Son of the Kyuubi
by Dzero9
Summary: Honoring the Yondaime, The Kyuubi no Yoko raises Naruto as his own son. NaruHina, SasufemHaku, ItaAya, others.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hey, I'm Dzero009, I'm here with a new fanfic, my last one, Dark Veil, is on permanent hiatus, and it is up for adoption. But anyways this is the prologue of Son of the Kyuubi. **

**Description: Honoring the Yondaime, Kyuubi raises Naruto like his own son, main pairing. NaruHina**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...**

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All hope seemed lost for Konohagakure, the Hidden Leaf Village. Today was October 10, the day everyone will not soon forget—The day Kyuubi no Yoko attacked the village.

"Kyuubi, why now? We could've stopped the Uchiha together!" Namikaze Minato, the fourth Hokage murmured. "Something must've pushed Kyuubi-sama to the brink." Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage mused. Minato gathered up his resolve and walked out. Sarutobi rose up from his seat in the Hokage's office. "Minato, you're gonna use _it?_" The 20-year-old Hokage sighed (A/n: thats how old I think he might be, don't flame, K?) "Yeah, I'm gonna use it...I may have to bargain with the Kyuubi about my son..." He looked at the bundle of blankets in his arms to reveal a newborn blond boy, Minato smiled sadly at his only child. "Alright! Sarutobi I'll see you in the afterlife." At that, Minato vanished in a Yellow Flash.

He appeared on the battlefield, countless dead bodies lay there, and injured ninja. Minato looked at the fuming fox, mooring overhead. Minato sighed and bit his thumb: **Kuchiyose no Jutsu!** A poof of smoke appeared as a giant toad appeared, the ninja spotted the person on the toad's head. "It's the Yondaime, he's arrived!" With a mighty roar from the crowed, their morale skyrocketed. Kyuubi saw this and growled. "**Namikaze Minato...why...why won't you let me kill them! They took the life away my only kit...THE UCHIHA MUST PAY!!"**

Minato could only sigh. "I'm sorry Kyuubi-sama, but it must be done! I am Hokage, It's my duty to defend the people of Konoha!" Minato prepared the seals.

"**Shiki Fujin!"**

Kyuubi looked in horror as the Shinigami appeared, He then felt the soul suck out of his body. Then, Minato spoke up, only the two could hear. "Kyuubi, I've something to ask of you..." Kyuubi's eyes went wide, he respected Minato as a shinobi without equal, and he owed him a request. **"Anything, old friend..."**

Minato smiled. "I'm giving you only your yang chakra, my son here will have your yin chakra, I want you to take care of him, raise him as your own child...or kit."

Kyuubi was honored, now that was something coming from the Demon Lord. **"Request granted, I'll raise your child to be a force to be reckoned with." **Minato smiled, a white light surrounded the Kyuubi, **"What is the child's name?"**

Minato's lasts words were--

"Uzumaki Naruto."

The Kyuubi proceeded to 'Vanish' along with his 'good' Chakra.

XxXxXx

**The Next Day**

"The Child must not be allowed to live!"

"He holds the Kyuubi inside of him!"

"He's a demon! He must die!"

"ENOUGH!!" Sarutobi roared as he calmed the council down, Sarutobi leaned back, surprised that baby Naruto managed to sleep, even over the councils shouting. "Now, I'd like you're opinion one by one, starting with Hiashi." Hyuga Hiashi cleared his throat. "This child is my friends, son. The Yondaime was an unparalleled shinobi, I will not sully his name by murdering his only son—who is just a newborn."

Sarutobi smiled, he knew that Minato had rescued Hiashi's wife from a kidnapping attempt from a Kumo-nin, and that Minato rescued a battalion of Hyuga during the Iwa-Konoha war.

"Well I for one claimed that it should die." Said a certain Fugaku Uchiha. "He's the Kyuubi incarnate, and no doubt that he has no other living relatives, or guardians, that just further proves my accusation."

"Hold up"

All eyes turned to a man standing by the doorway, the man looked to be in his early twenties with long, almost glowing red hair with matching eyes, he wore a Konoha jonin outfit, and he had whisker marks on his cheeks, He was also six-foot flat, and held a power of authority--only Sarutobi knew who it was

_So, Kyuubi did agree after all..._

'Kyuubi' stepped forward to the council, the all noticed his sharp claw like nails, and a fox-fang necklace. "I'm Naruto's legal guardian... Yokoumaru. " Before the Uchiha could retort, Danzou—the bandaged war-hawk spoke up. "Exuse me, but have you any proof?" _Checkmate _

Yokoumaru smirked "I have the Hokage's word, write Sarutobi-ji?" The council looked at the jonin like he was nuts, he just addressed the Hokage an old man. Sarutobi nodded. "Correct, Minato himself told me to leave Naruto in Yokoumaru's hands. The Council was dumbfounded, they couldn't go up against the word of the Hokage, even if they were council members.

"All right, we'll sign the papers..." said a defeated Danzo. Yokoumaru smirked. Fugaku;s mouth hung open, Hiashi's eyes narrowed. _Hmmm...there's nothing threatening about his aura, but the thing is.. who is he? I've never met him before in my life._

Later that evening, Yokomaru was escorted by the ANBU back-ops to his new home, Yokomaru didn't fail to notice the hateful glares the villagers sent him, and the infant in his arms. He used his acute hearing to listen in

"What is that demon, doing with that attractive man?"

"I cant believe the demon is alive! What the hell was the Hokage thinking?"

"I'm going to kill that bastard, infant or not."

Kyuubi spiked his killing intent enough for the villagers to scatter, he looked into the child's eyes. He noticed he had the same whisker marks on his cheeks, Kyuubi smirked again. _At least when he joins the ninja academy, they'll think I'm his father._

As they arrived, Yokoumaru was sent in, it was a simple two story house two bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms, and a living room and a half-kitchen. Kyuubi walked and and received the key from a shorter ANBU with a dog-mask.

"Thanks for looking after my sensei's son, Yokoumaru-san." Kakashi said as he bowed. "Take care of him."

Yokoumaru smiled. "Thanks, I will." He closed the door and looked into the ceiling. "I will protect to, kit. I won't let anyone harm you, _ever_"

**A/N: So how about that? I hope you like this prologue. The next chapters will be at least 3,000 words...or longer. So, there will be Sakura bashing, NaruSasu friendship, and some KyuubiHarem but only a little, I might make a poll to decide who should Kyuubi be paired with. So til next time, Ja Ne!**


	2. First Day

**A/N: Hello all, it's time for chapter 2 of Son of the Kyuubi, I thank those who've added me to their faves, reviewed, etc. **

**Today's chapter: Time skip, 6 years, Naruto enters the ninja Academy and meets Sasuke and Hinata, oh! And there's Sakura bashing! YAAAY!! And it's also the first day meaning...bring you're parent/guardian to academy day!**

**Disclaimer: I own Naruto, I do not.**

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"Get him!"

"Kill him!"

"Get that demon scum!"

Here we go again, A 6-year-old blond boy was running for his dear life from an angry mob, he hated being chased around for no reason, it was unfair, he didn't do shit!

Naruto ran to an ally, and arrived on another side of town, but the mob soon followed, Naruto began to start sniffling. _Tou-chan, where are you?_ He thought to himself, Naruto's adoptive father, (He didn't know that, though) Yokoumaru, a.k.a The Demon Fox of Konoha, was out on a mission, and would be back tonight, meanwhile his precious son was being chased for only he knows what.

Naruto tripped and fell, his legs gave out. He turned and faced the mob—he was afraid, No matter what kind of grueling course, or kinds of tortu—er, training his father puts him through, his fear would always tire him out. A man stepped forward, carrying a pitchfork, he shouted, "This, is for the fallen!"

Naruto closed his eyes, waiting for the blow to come, but it never arrived, he looked up to see a man with long red hair, that almost gave off a glow, block the pitchfork inches from him with his hand, he turned to Naruto. "Are you ok, son?" Yokoumaru asked, Naruto nodded. Then Yokoumaru turned to face the villagers, his killer intent facing their way. ** "Leave"** he said in his Kyuubi voice. Needless to say, the villagers scattered. Yokoumaru turned and picked up his son, he held him close as he heard soft whimpering. "C'mon, now. Don't cry, how are going to be Hokage if you cry so much?" He said softly, he knew being Hokage was Naruto's dream, and he promised that he'd help him to reach that goal. Naruto stopped crying. "O-ok..." He choked out. Yokoumaru smiled. "Okay, lets get you home." and with that, Yokoumaru shunshined away.

XxXxXx

Later that day...

"Oi, Naruto! Get some sleep, Tomorrow is your first day at the academy!" Yokoumaru called out to his son. "I can't, I'm too excited to sleep!" Naruto answered back, it was true, the little blond boy couldn't wait for the academy, he couldn't wait to show off his dad to the teachers and kids, he hoped he would also makes some friends, since he doesn't have any. "C'mon now, kiddo, you need sleep to become Hokage!" With that, silence. Yokoumaru smirked, he liked using that line on his son, things always went his way.

XxXxXx

The next day...

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP

"Yosh! Today's the day!" Naruto shouted as he stopped his alarm clock and stood and stretched, he picked out his clothes (which wasn't much counting on how his dad Katon-ed all his orange clothes that a shopkeeper 'generously' gave to him for free.)

and hopped into the shower. As he got out he changed and went downstairs, only to see his dad in a bathrobe, slowly sipping on some coffee.

Naruto sweatdropped. "C'mon, Tou-chan! We'll be late, hurry and get dressed!" Kyuubi narrowed his eyes. _Somethings wrong with that kit, he has too much energy in the morning..._ He took a sip of his coffee and sighed. "Look, kit, I know you're excited about becoming a ninja, It's just it's too early in the morning, And also I have another A-rank assignment today, I need my quiet time in the morning." Yokoumaru said.

Naruto frowned "It's only 6 A.M."

Yokoumaru smirked. "Exactly, you're usually asleep til eight or nine, I need my mornings of Zen and peace. By that time I'm good an ready—and so will be the academy instructors." Yokoumaru added, Naruto whined and went into the living room and turned on the t.v. _Stupid Tou-chan, stupid academy, stupid Trojan commercial..._

At 8 A.M...

"TOU-CHAAANN!! ARE YOU DONE YETTTT!" Shouted an impatient 6-year-old. Yokoumaru hurried out his room, adjusting his hitai-ate, and slipping on his jonin vest, turned to the boy and sighed: "Shall we go?"

All the way to the academy Yokoumaru emitted killing intent directing at various villagers who dared to glare at the two as they walked, _Bastards, the whole lot of them, I don't even know why Minato tolerated such ignorance..._

As they arrived to the academy, they were the last to arrived, when they stepped through, everyone was silent, the children and their parents just eyed the duo as they entered into the classroom. Various thoughts went through their heads:

_Omigod! That's Konoha's Demon Fox! He's so...HOT!!_

_Hmph, the Demon and it's father have arrived to the academy, I hope that boy is the first to die_

_My brother talked a lot about this man, to see him in person is just so cool..._

_His son is so cute! I must make him my boyfriend!_

_Tch, Sasuke-kun is waaay hotter than those two combined! CHA!!_

_Troublesome..._

_Whoa, that man smells funny, I swear I smelled something...Animalistic from his scent...I just can't put my finger on it._

_It's Naruto-kun...Ok, do not faint, do not fain, do not faint..._

Soon after father and son arrived, a man walked in, He had long blue hair and green eyes. He cleared his throat and said, "Hello students and welcome parents, I am Furrido Ravaire, and I'm the instructor for the next three years, So why don't we start off by introducing yourselves? Starting with...you.

All eyes turned to a dark blue haired girl, who just 'eeped' "A-ano...I'm H-Hinata Hyuga, and this is my mom, Akikio Hyuga."

Naruto stared at her for a moment. _She's cute, just has a lack of confidence, though._

"Next?_" _Furrido asked, A boy wth raven black haired stood up. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha, this is my brother Itachi Uchiha." All the girls who weren't enthralled by Naruto starting swooning over Sasuke. Yokoumaru growled _Uchiha..._

As the list went on, they stopped over the Ino-Shika-Cho, Shino, Kiba, and A few nameless kids, then it stopped at Sakura. "I'm Sakura Haruno. This is my mother, Kira." She then sat down smugly and eyed Sasuke, who just ignored her.

"Ok, Demo—er, blond, you're next. Naruto shot up, and Yokoumaru followed next. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki! And this is my Dad, Yokoumaru!" The Jonin smiled, which caused more women to see hearts in their eyes.

"Ok, parents you may leave now." That parents all got up and left (Except Yokoumaru who shunshined away)

"Ok, kids today we'll talk about..."

Naruto decided to talk to the boy next to him, he already has basic academy knowledge. "Hey, you're name is Sasuke, right?" The boy next to him nodded. "You'd like to hang out at lunch today?" Sasuke smiled and nodded, "Yeah, sure!"

"Oi, Naruto, Sasuke, PAY ATTENTION!!"

XxXxXx

At lunch, Naruto found Sasuke sitting at a table by himself, Naruto grinned and walked over and sat next to him. Sasuke turned to his new friend. "Hey Nartuo, mad dad told me something about you..." He started, Naruto knew where this is going, but kept his grin and faced Sasuke, "Really? What did he say?" The Uchiha faced him and sighed and looked at the ground. "He said...you're a demon, and I shouldn't associate with you." At this Naruto frowned, but then Sasuke looked up. "Don't worry, I don't listen to my dad anyway, and besides—he probably thinks you're father might be one considering he's Konoha's demon fox, the man who slew over 400 enemy nins with his mysterious red chakra."

Naruto truly smiled this time, "Thanks, Sasuke."

"SAAASUKEEE-KUUN!!"

"NAARRUUTO-KUUNN!!"

The boys went wide-eyed as a flood of girls came their way, Sasuke picked up his tray in a panick—forgetting about his apple juice, "Naruto! Let's go, before they get us!"

Naruto rose up and faced him, "To where? We barely dodged them when we ran to the bathrooms!"

Sasuke panicked. "It doesn't matter, RUN FOR IT!!"

And so the boys ran outside, toppling over other students who were eating outside. They noticed the fangirls (and fanboys) get closer and closer, "Aaah!, Sasuke! We're so screwed!" Naruto cried, just then he noticed a hand in the woods, motioning them to follow, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's shirt and followed the hand to the woods, Sasuke turned around to see the crowed of girls going the other way.

"Whew..." Sasuke wiped the sweat of his brow.

"Thanks, uhhh..." Naruto looked up to see a dark blue haired girl with pale lavender eyes, it didn't help that she was blushing furiously. "Ah! That's right, ...Hinata!" Naruto said at last, Sasuke turned around to see the girl and stood up. "Thanks for helping us out...but, where are we?"

"A-ano...th-there's a c-clearing a-ahead, we can go there to eat..." Nodding, the boys picked up there trays and followed Hinata.

When they arrived, they noticed a huge open space, with lots of trees mooring overhead, it was the perfect hiding spot.

Naruto was the first to break the silence. "Wow, this place is perfect! We would definitely lose those fangirls, eh Sasuke?" Sasuke nodded. "But thats only if Hinata allows us to..." Hinata nodded nervously. "I-its o-ok, y-you guys can h-hide here for l-lunch..." Naruto was jumping p and down with excitement. "Thanks a lot, Hinata-chan!" Naruto shouted with glee. _He called me...Hinata-chan... _Hinata fainted with a small smile on her face.

After lunch, the three walked together to class, they were the last to arrived (To avoid the fangirls and fanboys) As they walked in class, two girls ran up to them, ignoring little Hinata, a girl with blond hair and blue eyes clad in purple was trying to chat with Naruto, while a pink-haired girl with a HUGE forehead was trying to talk to Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun, where were you? I missed you!"

"yeah, Naruto-kun! Did you get hurt?"

"Say something!!" They both shouted.

Naruto and Sasuke faced them. "Sorry, we didn't hear you just now." Sakura and Ino let out an exasperating sigh, while Hinata giggled.

"Sasuke, Naruto, Hinata, Forehead, Pig! Get to you're seats!" The teacher bellowed, needless to say, they all sat down. (Hinata, Naruto, and Sasuke up front, Ino and Sakura in the back)

XxXxXx

After class, Yokoumaru came to the academy to pick up Naruto, "Naruto, let's go!" He called, Naruto waved good-bye to Sasuke and Hinata, and caught up with his dad. On their way home, they talked about their day. "...and it was that cat again! That same cat, I had an A-rank mission to catch a CAT?!" Naruto chuckled while Yokoumaru sighed. "So how was you're day?"

Naruto smiled. "Today, I made two friends and a whole bunch of fangirls! And some fanboys too..." Yokoumaru chuckled at the disdain in Naruto's voice when he mention the fanboys. "so, what are your friends' names?"

"Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuga."

_Damn, Uchiha, trying to kill my son for that damn Mangekyou, I bet Fugaku put Sasuke up to this..._

Naruto gave his father a quizzical look, noticing his scrunched up face. "Tou-chan. Whats wrong?" Naruto asked, Yokoumaru looked over to his son, "Oh, it's nothing." He said on the outside, but the inside he made a plan. _I should get Naruto to invite his friends over, and have Hiashi and Fugaku themselves bring them, that way I can discover that Fugaku put Sasuke up to the task of maintaining Mangekyou..._

**A/N: Ok, end of this chap. Sorry about the length, I know I said 3,000 words but I couldn't find anything else to write... So, I guess you're wondering why Kyuubi thinks that, I'll leave that up to you to ponder, and I also made Ino Naruto's fangirl whilst Sakura is Sasuke's fangirl, pretty smart, eh? Oh, and Hinata was invited to the Uzumaki house so that Naruto wouldn't get suspicous.**

**Til next time.**


	3. Visit

**A/N: Yosh! It's time for a new chapter of Son of the Kyuubi! **

**Thanks for the reviews people, reviews level me up. (I'm on level 3...) so help me level up by feeding me reviews!**

**So now in this chapter Sasuke and Hinata are invited to the Uzumaki household, what will happen?**

**Disclaimer: Yes, I do not own Naruto.**

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_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

"Kuso..." Cursed a six-year-old boy, he groggily woke up, and rubbed his throbbing head, he hopped into the shower and got his clothes for the day, when he got downstairs he noticed his dad in bathrobes sipping on some coffee, Naruto sighed. "Tou-chan I'll see you a nine, I'm so tired..." and with that Naruto went upstairs and slept.

Yokoumaru chuckled evily _Seems like my special training wore off..._

(Flashback no Justsu)

_Naruto and his father were outside back, beginning their training regimine. "Today, son, we'll learn taijutsu, and advanced weapon training mainly swords." The boy jumped up and down. "Yatta!" he shouted cheerfully._

_Yokoumaru chuckled at his son's antics. "I'm going to teach you the 'Sky Fang' kenjutsu and 'Heaven Valor' taijutsu." He tossed his son a wooden sword. Naruto caught it and looked up at his tou-chan. "Sky Fang comes from the spirit, you channel your very chakra into you're attacks, such as the ones you'll learn down the road. Today I'm going to spar with you, showing you effective stances, and teaching three basic attacks: Blue Moon Buster, Hawk Stroke, and Blade Dance..."_

_after their kenjutsu training, Yokoumaru got into a taijutsu stance, Naruto (though exhausted) looked up. "This is the only taijutsu stance for Heaven Valor, which is similar to the Hyuga's Gentle Fist, except you don't channel chakra into tenketsu, heaven Valor uses chakra to attack the parts of the body in which it's directed to. Now, I'm going to spar with you, try to at least hit me with a chakra enhanced attack."_

(Kai!)

_Next time he'll think twice about disturbing my quiet time. _Yokoumaru thought.

XxXxXx

As Naruto arrived at the academy, he sat down between Sasuke and Hinata, "Ne, Sasuke, Hinata-chan." Naruto started as the two faced him. "My Dad wants you guys and you're dads to come over our house tonight." Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What? Why?" He asked, Naruto shrugged. "I dunno. Just come over, ok?" Sasuke nodded while Hinata sheepishly nodded. "Great!! Ill see you guys later then!"

At lunch...

Ino and sakura ran about the schoolyard in panic, they didn't find any trace of Naruto-kun or Sasuke-kun anywhere! Ino ran over to Sakura out in the yard. "Sakura! Naruto-kun is nowhere to be found!" She shouted. Sakura grunted, "Forget Naruto, Sasuke-kun is who we should worry about!" Ino huffed, "Nu-uh, It's Naruto-kun who we should be worried about!"

"No, Sasuke-kun!"

"Naruto-kun!"

"Sasuke-kun!"

"Naruto-kun!"

"Grrr!!"

They started pushing each other then pulling each other's hai, well past lunch...

XxXxXx

Meanwhile in a secluded area, childrens' laughter could be heard through the area.

"Thats a funny story, Naruto-kun." Hinata finally said after laughing so hard. "I swear they left a huge trail of piss behind them!" Sasuke got an image of the villagers wetting themselves before running off, he chuckled at the mental image. Naruto kept chuckling til he turned to Hinata. "You got any funny stories, Hinata-chan?" Hinata's smile turned to a small frown. "I-I'm sorry, I-I don't have any stories." Naruto smiled, "Ah, It's ok Hinata-chan, It doesn't matter." Naruto said, still smiling. Hinata plastered on a smile, "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

XxXxXx

After lunch, the teacher strode into class and cleared his throat, sliencing the children. "Everyone outside, today we'll be sparring." The class groaned, while some other cheered.

When they got out side, the teacher handed the students cards with numbers on them. "Ok, kids. Those cards represent who you will be sparring with, find the person with the matching card and find a field."

Naruto got a card with the number 6 on it, he looked around to find who else got the number to see that a girl with bubble-gum pink hair got the same number, Naruto walked over and scratched his neck absent-mindly.

"Uh, it seems I'm your opponent..." He said nervously, Sakura turned around and narrowed her eyes. "Feh, you'd better go all out, you'd need every ounce of strength in that puny body of yours to beat me." She said matter-of-factly.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Puny? I'm taller than you!" Sakura paused than looked _up_ at him. _Oh, he is taller than me..._

As they got to their field, they turned to their instructor. "All right, class! The rules are simple, use anything in your arsenal as long as it doesn't hurt your opponent severely" Sakura smirked at the blond. "Prepare to get whooped, I'll make you look like a total fool in front of Ino-pig!" Naruto chuckled. "I'll make you look like a fool in front of the whole class!" Sakura gritted her teeth.

"Ok, begin!"

Sakura ran forward to Naruto as he got into his Heaven Valor taijutsu stance. He waited as Sakura came closer and Naruto smirked. " I got you now." He said, Sakura, seeing theattack, Saskura used a minor genjutsu on the field, she charged front of Naruto, attempting to punch him in the face, when all of the sudden he blocked the attack, Naruto smiled. "You shouldn't try to use flashy genjutsu on me, the wont work." Sakura, angry tried to throw another punch, only for Naruto to slightly shift his head, he leg sweeped the girl and brought her down roughly, before she got up, he put is foot on her stomach. "Yeild" he said. Needless to say, Sakura did just as she was told. Sasuke smirked, Hinata cheered, while the others laughed at Sakura's misfortune. Naruto tried to help the girl up but she smacked his hand away, "Don't touch me!" She threatened. Naruto shrugged and went into the classroom. _Jeez, what a total BE-OTCH!!_

Sasuke walked in the classroom after winning his match and went over to Naruto, they both grinned at each other and gave each other high fives. "So how did your match go?" Naruto asked. "Easy, that loud-mouthed Yamanaka didn't stand a chance." After a few more minuetes and a few rounds of tic-tac-toe, Hinata walked in with a smile on her face. "Hinata-chan! Did you win?" Hinata ran over to Naruto and smiled. "H-Hai! I won against Kiba!" Naruto smiled proudly while Sasuke gave his famous smirk, Naruto was also proud that Hinata became more confident after that match.

XxXxXx

The Day was finally over and as usual Yokoumaru was there to pick up his only son. "Tou-chan!" Naruto shouted as he ran up to hug his father, Yokoumaru chuckled. "Hey there, kit—How was your day?" He asked, Naruto gave him a foxy grin. "I won my sparring match...but I wouldn't cal it a win since it was against a girl..." Yokoumaru ruffled his son's hair. "Hey, you know in the shinobi world, gender doesn't matter, so don't worry about it." He said reassuringly. Naruto smiled. "Thanks, oh! Sasuke and Hinata-chan's parents said they'd be at our house at 7!" Yokoumaru smiled. "Ok, I guess we'll have to cut our training short, meaning at 4, we'll shower then clean up, and then we'll be ready for our guests!" Naruto them pumped a fist into the air, "Yosh! Let's go, then!"

at 7...

the doorbell began to ring, Naruto shot up from the couch to answer the door. "Hang on, I'm coming!" he shouted to the door, when he opened it, he looked up to see two men, both with black hair, staring down at him. "hi, are you Hinata-chan and Sasuke's dads?" They both nodded, and Sasuke and Hinata walked in with sleeping bags in tow. "Hey, Hiashi-san, Fugaku-san!" The two clan heads turned to see Yokoumaru walk up to the door, "thanks for letting the kids sleep over at our home." Hiashi nodded. "My daughter talks a lot about Naruto, I was a little unsure considering they met yesterday but she insisted." Fugaku 'hmphed' "My kid wouldn't stop nagging me, and it'll be great to have him out of the house while I train Itachi."

Yokoumaru narrowed his eyes and turned to the kids. "Hey, you three go and watch some t.v., I need to talk to Hiashi-san and Fugaku-san." The kids nodded and went off to watch the tube.

Yokoumaru crossed his arms. "So, Fugaku, what's your game, eh?" Hiashi faced the council member while Fugaku raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" He asked. "You know what I'm talking about, _Uchiha_" A cold sweat rolled down Fugaku's face at the venom in Yokoumaru's voice. "The Mangekyou Sharingan, you're trying to get Sasuke to obtain by killing Hinata or my son when they become his best friends." Hiashi's eyes widened. "Fugaku, is this true?" He asked, Fugaku chuckled. "As much as I want your 'child' gone, I didn't have Sasuke obtain the Mangekyou by killing your son. I all ready had my son Itachi kill his best friend, Shishui of the Shunshin, to get the Mangekyou, Sasuke is a failure to the Uchiha, he doesn't deserve such a powerful Sharingan as that."

Yokoumaru growled. "Teme..." Fugaku smirked. "If that is all that you want, I'll send someone to get Sasuke at the end of the week, now if you excuse me, I'm late for a meeting." Fugaku bowed a third-way and left, Hiashi turned to the Jonin and bowed. "I'll bring Hinata home as well by the end of the week, my wife will pick her up then, farewell."

Yokoumaru closed the door gently and sighed. _Teme Uchiha, What does he need the Mangekyou for? ...Those damn eyes, the eyes that killed my kit... _He looked over to where Naruto was playing with Hinata and Sasuke, _I won't let it happen again..._

* * *

**A/N: Yay! End of chapter three, next chapter is a two year timeskip, where Iruka makes his debut!**

**Next chapter_, The Massacre_**


	4. The Massacre

**A/N: Yosh! New chapter of Son of the Kyuubi! This chapter is the Uchiha Massacre, with a twist.**

**Itach: A twist? Don't tell me...**

**Me: Yup, hehehe...**

**Itachi: Man oh man, I can't wait.**

**Me: I don't own Naruto so piss off!**

* * *

**...2 years later...**

"Naruto, get up!" Yokoumaru shouted, Naruto had slept in once again, he's been doing this a lot lately, Yokoumaru went up to his sons' room and kicked open the door, he marched up to Naruto's sleeping form and hit him with a pillow, needless to say—Naruto woke up.

Naruto groggily glared at his father. "Dammit, Tou-san, I was about to get up, you know."

Yokoumaru sighed. "Yeah, right. Now get your ass up, kit. I'm gonna have to **Body Flicker** you there."

Naruto nodded and got up into his private shower, 12 minutes later he was downstairs. Naruto was wearing a black short sleeve shirt with an orange trim, and black pants with orange cuffs. Naruto walked up to his father, "Kay, I'm ready." Yokoumaru nodded and grabbed hold of the eight year old and Body Flickered away.

00000000000

At the academy, Sasuke and Hinata were waiting for Naruto to arrive, as if on cue, a large puff of smoke appeared and Naruto along with his father appeared. "Oi, Naruto? Where have you been?" Sasuke shouted, Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Uh, you see, an old lady needed help getting across the street and—"

"LAIR!!" the whole class shouted, Yokoumaru sweatdropped. "Naruto, I won't be home for three days, I got an S-rank mission involving guys wearing black cloaks with red clouds in the area, kinda weird, huh? So, see you in three days!" And with that, Yokoumaru Body Flickered away.

Naruto sat in his seat between Sasuke and Hinata, Naruto smiled at her. "Hey, Hinata-chan, how are you doing today?" He asked. Hinata smiled, ever since her mothers death a year back, she grew more distant, but thanks to Naruto and Sasuke (Mainly Naruto) she's beginning to smile again.

"Welcome. Students." A man said as he entered the room. He was a chunin with brown hair and brown eyes with a scar across his nose. "I'm Iruka Umino, I'm your new instructor, and this man here:" He signaled for a scrawny looking chunin with a bandana for a hitai-ate with sliver hair walk in. "Is Mizuki, so why don't you all introduce yourselves? And state your goals and such."

He moved along until he stopped at a girl with pink hair.

"I'm Sakura Haruno, my likes are..." She looks over to Sasuke across the room talking to Naruto and blushes. And hanging with my friends, I dislike Ino-pig and Naruto-baka." Iruka noted that the boy in question didn't respond. But Ino huffed. "And my goal is to become the wife of..." She looks over to Sasuke and blushes. Iruka nodded. "So you like blushing you dislike Naruto and Ino and you want to get married to blushing...ok..." Sakura had a tick mark on her head, Ino snickered. "So, this 'Ino-pig' is next."

Ino grunted. "I'm Ino Yamanaka, I like Naruto-kun, and I dislike any girl who is close to him" She sent glares to Hinata who glared back whilst activating her new Byakugan. "Oh, and forehead. My goal is to make Naruto-kun my husband!" She bodly announced, which caused the Naru fangirls to send deathglares to her and the Sasu fangirls 'hmphed.'

"Ok, so the Uchiha is next."

Sasuke cleared his throat. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha, I like hanging out with my friends, Naruto and Hinata, and I hate the presence of annoying fangirls and... homosexual fanboys..." Iruka chuckled at Sasuke's cringing fit. "And my goal is to beat my brother Itachi in a spar, and get my dad to acknowledge me as an Uchiha." Sasuke sat down and went back to his doodles of a chibi Sasuke standing over an unconsious chibi Itachi giving the peace sign.

"Ok, the blond one."

Naruto sat up. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, I like my Tou-san, hinata-chan and Sasuke. My dislikes are those troublesome fangirls..." Naruto looked over to Shikamru as he glared at the blond. "My goal is to be Hokage!" He proudly. The Naru fangirls swooned, Sakura laughed. Naruto jabbed a finger towards her. "Hey! Whats so funny!?"

Sakura chuckled. "What makes you think a loser like you would be Hokage?" She said, Sasuke scoffed. "You won't be saying that when he does become Hokage!" Hinata subconsciously nodded.

Sakura stammered. "W-well if you think he'll become Hokage, Sasuke-kun then I think so too!" The Sasu fangirls nodded in agreement, apparently whatever there Kami Sasuke says goes.

Iruka chuckled. "Ok, miss Hyuga?"

Hinata stood and pressed her index fingers together. "A-ano...I'm Hinata Hyuga, I like hanging with my friends, Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun, I dislike people who hurt others because of what they are or what they think they are. My goal is to be acknowledged by my father and..." Hinata began blushing, "Someone else..."

Iruka was about to say the Inuzuka was next but he shot up a loudly announced. "I'm Kiba Inuzuka, I like training with my super-cool nin-dog, Akamaru and I dislike a certain blond..." He sent death glares at Naruto who was making a collaborated comic book with Sasuke. "MY goal is to win the heart of a certain girl by beating the crap out of her love interest." Akamaru yipped in agreement as he sent another glare at Naruto who was showing a comic page to Hinata who giggled.

Iruka frowned slightly, he looked over to Naruto who was drawing a panel for his comic while Sasuke was telling him what to write for the speech bubbles.

00000000000

After history class Iruka clapped his hands. "Class, how many of you know Jutsu?"

almost nobody raised their hands except Naruto, Sasuke, Kiba, Sakura, and Ino. 'Hinata, you know jutsu, why didn't you raise your hand?' Naruto whispered to her, Hinata pressed her index fingers together 'Ano...I don't know any ninjutsu...' Naruto smiled. 'You don't have to know ninjutsu at all, taojutsu and genjetsu are just fine.' Hinata smiled and raised her hand. "Oh, hinata? I see, well class follow me."

They followed Iruka and Mizuki to a large tree. Iruka cleared his throat. "Now, I want you to practice your jutsu on either the tree if its ninujutsu, me if its genjustsu, or Mizuki if its taijutsu." At that moment, Naruto raised his hand. "Yes Naruto?" Iruka asked, Iruka was not like the other instructors, he didn't hate Naruto for having the Kyuubi inside him, he knew full well he was the jailer, not the demon itself. "What if we know kenjutsu?" Iruka' eyes widened. "You know some kenjutsu?" Naruto nodded, Iruka then turned to Mizuki, "Why don't you hand him wooden sword?"

Mizuki nodded and handed Naruto the sword and forced a smile "Good luck, Naruto." He said _I'm going to have to burn that stick after class, It has demon all over it now..._

"Ok, Sakura, you're up." Iruka said, Sakura walked up before grinning at Sasuke, "Watch me, Sasuke-kuun..." She walked up to Iruka "So, you know genjustu?" Sakura nodded. "Well show us." She activated a genjetsu, not really showy, It made Iruka look like a child version of him, "Kai" Iruka called as the kids watched as the adult form of Iruka appeared. "Ok, Hinata you're next." Iruka smiled as Hinata went up to Mizuki and activated her Byakugan. Hinata hit Mizuki's legs as he stumbled to the ground. "Ah, The Hyuga style taijutsu, well done." Hinata bowed. "Kiba?" Iruka called, The boy grinned to he Hinata and glared at Naruto and ran up to the tree, he look up at it, then to the class. _Oh crap, I really don't know any justu! Think...think..._ Out of desperation he faced the class and ran throught random hand seals, he activated the justu and took the form of a nearly naked woman, her 'parts' hidden by a then layer of smoke, Iruka had a nosebleed while Mizuki looked unimpressed. As Kiba changed back, Iruka hit him on the head. "Idiot! Don't ever use that jutsu again!" Everyone laughed at Kiba's misfortune. Iruka resituated himself. "Sasuke?" He asked, The Sasu fangirl faction cooed at him as approached the tree, he went through some hands seals and shouted. **Katon: Fireball! **A miniature flame shot out of Sasuke's mouth a he scorched part of the tree, Iruka looked at him, pleased. "good job, ok Naruto?" Naruto looked at Hinata and smiled. "Wish me luck." He then passed Sasuke and they gave each other low high fives. Naruto faced Mizuki and drew the wooden sword and got into his kenjutsu stance (Think of Lang from Legaia 2: duel Saga) Mizuki arched an eyebrow. "The **Sky Fang** master stance?" He muttered, Naruto used a basic move while Mizuki guarded. **Sky Fang Art: Blue Moon Buster! **He spun half way around, arched his sword and struck Mizuki full swing. Mzuki stumbled back. "Very good, Naruto!" Iruka proudly announced, Naruto then made a ram seal and five copies of Naruto came into existence, the real one smirked. **Shadow Clone Jutsu** Iruka was indeed surprised, he looked at Naruto in awe. "you know Naruto, I could give you the graduation exan rught now." Everyone's eyes widened while Sasuke smirked. "Sorry, but no." Naruto said, Iruka nodded in understanding

0000000000

After class, Naruto went straight home, but Sasuke was walked home by his brother who just came back from a mission, Sasuke told him about his day. "..And then he turned him down, just like I thought he would." Sasuke said, Itachi gave him his ever rare smile. "I see, he's becoming quite the prodigy, it must be because of Yokoumaru strict training." Sasuke nodded. "I remembered when Yoko-san trained with Hinata and I, we barely had the energy to even open our eyes." Itachi chuckled.

As they reached the compound they noticed there were no guards there, suspecting something, Itachi activated his Sharingan. "Sasuke, we need to be cautious." He said, as they walked down they way to their house, they looked in horror at the bodies laying on the ground, their family, ruthlessly slaughtered, Itachi covered his brother's eyes. "Itachi-nii, why is everyone dead?" he said, whimpering, Itachi shook his head. "I don't know..." He lied. Then, they heard an ear splitting scream. "Okaasaan!!" Sasuke yelled as he ran to is house, Itachi soon followed.

As Sasuke arrived, he looked in horror as his mother lay in a pool of blood, Sasuke and Itachi ran over to her. "Kaa-chan, Kaa-chan, please, wake up." Itachi pt a hand on her neck, he shook his head. "She's gone." Sasuke cried over her lifeless body. Itach then spun around to deflect a kunai aiming his way. "you can come out now...Father."

Sasuke looked up to see his dad in battle armor, covered with blood, his sword, dulled from slicing through so many bones, Fugaku smirked. "Well, well, Itachi, as expected by my own son..." Fugaku looked over at Sasuke, as fear struck the boy's face. "Dad...why..." Fugaku smirked again. "They wouldn't follow my orders, so I killed them all...save you two." Fugaku drew closer as Itachi drew his ANBU sword. "Sasuke, head outside, NOW!" Sasuke ran outside as Itachi soon followed, deflecting kunai as they ran.

When they reached out side, Fugaku caught them both with a penetrating gaze of his new Sharingan, it looked like a pinwheel. "The Mangekyou sharingan..." Itachi murmered Fugaku appeared in front of him and smiled evily. "you made a mistake by not activating yours—**Tsukuyomi!"** In a split second, Itachi fell to the ground panting heavily, Sasuke looked at his dad in fear, "What id you do to Itachi-nii?"

Fugaku smiled evily. "you'l find out soon enough, **Tsukuyomi!"**In a second, Sasuke fell, he was crying and muttering jibberish. Fugaku grinned. "You hate me, don't you...yes...live with your hatred, hate me, dispise me, hate will make you stronger..."

"No..." Itachi siad as he stood. And looked at Fugaku. "Hatred will get you nowhere, you'll be consumed by it, you'll be nothing but a shadow of your former self." Sasuke listened to his every word and muttered. 'thats right'

Fugaku hmphed. "I don't have time for this..." He closed his eyes as his left one bled, as Itachi activated his own Magekyou, he grabbed Sasuke and began to run, they both activated their technique.

"**Amaterasu!"**

Black flames counteracted with black flames, Itachi covered his bleeding eye as he deactivated his Sharingan, his vision got slightly worse, but mostly unnoticed.

00000000000

As they ran through the town, people were stunned to see Itachi in a frenzy running with an unconscious Sasuke, he ran towards the outskirts of town to as certain house. As he knocked on the door, a blond boy opened the door and went wide eyed.

"Itachi? What happened, and why is Sasuke shaking?"

"Naruto, take care of Sasuke, I need to go to the Hokage's place, where is your dad?"

"He's on a mission."

"Damn...ok, I'm off."

Itachi sped off, not thinking about shunshinning to the office.

**A/N: Ooh! How do you like it, Fugaku is now the enemy, instead of Itachi. Like it? Please review!**


	5. Awaken the Bloodlines! Save Hinata!

**A/N: Well Awright! New chapter of Son of the Kyuubi! Naruto gets a bloodline limit this chapter, No, its not the Sharingan or Byakugan, its something totally cool (Well, in my opinion) this chapter title should give it all away.**

**Yokoumaru: this mortal doesn't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 5, Awaken the bloodlines! Dead Bone Pulse and the Copy Wheel Eye!**

* * *

Yokoumaru went to the Hokage's office, he was pulled out of his mission because of something of immediate urgency, as he went to the office, he saw Itachi, panting heavily. "Itachi? What's going on?" Yokoumaru asked.

The sandaime motioned him over. "Yokoumaru, Itachi and Sasuke will be living with you, allow me to explain..."

As the Yokoumaru heard this story, he got angrier and angrier. "That teme! How could he do that to his own family!?" Yokoumaru shouted. Itachi lowered his head. "He was angry that the Uchiha didn't want to go through the coup d'etat, Fugaku snapped and stormed out of the compound... I believe he seeked assistance by Madara Uchia..." Yokoumaru smirked. "Heh, that old bag of flesh is still around? I know I should've killed that piece of shit when I had the chance..."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "you ran into him before, Kyuubi-sama?" Yokoumaru sighed. "Don't call me Kyuubi-sama, anyway he and I fought 9 years ago, he provoked me by killing my kit, I went mad and tried to kill him...I failed, so I chased him to Konoha in a blind fury, you know the rest..." the red haired kitsune looked at Itachi. "I sensed Madara's influence in Fugaku, so I got wary of you and Sasuke because I thought you to came in contact with Madara." he began to walk out until he stopped. "If he is out there, Sasuke and Naruto need to awaken their bloodlines, and tap to their fullest potential." Itachi went and grabbed his arm. "What do you mean? Naruto has a bloodline? And you know the only way for Sasuke to unlock Mangekyou is too—"

Yokoumaru turned to him. "--Is to experience extreme sadness, you never had to kill your closest friend, and for Naruto...his bloodline is the Kaguya's..." And with the, he disappeared in a puff of smoke, Itachi nodded to the Hokage and puffed away.

00000000000

Sasuke and Naruto were watching TV, Naruto looked over to Sasuke and frowned. "Hey, you ok?" He asked. Sasuke sniffed. "I can't believe this is happening..." tears fell from his eyes as he looked down at the ground. "Its ok, man... I know it hurts...but... your family wouldn't want you...to...live in the past so...you should move on...for...their...sake..." Sasuke noticed Naruto was panting heavily.

"Naruto! What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, Naruto started sweating profusely, he then fell on the floor and faced away from Sasuke "I...I can't move..." Naruto choked out, Sasuke checked his forehead and noticed two red dots on it, head paid it no mind for now. "Naruto, you're burning up!" Sasuke began to panic, he didn't know what to do, just then the door opened, he ran over to see his brother and Yokoumaru at the door.

"Sasuke, whats wrong?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke pointed to where Naruto was. "He's having a fever! And he has these two weird red dots on his forehead!"

Yokoumaru smiled. "His bloodline has awakened." Itachi nodded as Yokoumaru ran over to his son to see him passed out on the floor, he noticed red dots on his forehead. "Itachi, take Naruto to his room, Sasuke, go to bed, you need rest after what has happened today." Sasuke nodded.

00000000000

The next day, Naruto woke up, he felt like his body was heavier than before, he got out of bed and took a shower, after the shower he looked at himself in the mirror, he noticed two red dots on his forehead, he started freaking out, he got dressed and ran downstairs.

As he got downstairs, he saw his dad, Itachi and Sasuke at the breakfast table, he ran down and to see them. "Naruto, you're up." Yokoumaru said. "Whats with these dots on my forehead? Whats going on?" tachi shook his head. "Yesterday night, your bloodline awoke." Naruto looked shocked. "B-bloodline?" Naruto and Sasuke both shouted. Yokoumaru shook his head. "Ok, outside."

Outside...

Naruto and Sasuke stood next to each other as Itachi and Ykoumaru were across from them. "Ok, we don't have time to explain the whole story but I'll make it short. I great evil is coming and you two have the power to stop it, Sasuke's **Sharingan** and Naruto's newly discovered bloodline, **Shikotsumyaku, **or the Dead Bone Pulse."

Naruto went wide-eyed. "Wow, what does it do?" Yokoumaru smirked. "The Shikotsumyaku allows you to use your bones as weapons, you can also regenerate and harden your bones as well, and also you can't use jutsu for a week since your chakra coils need to readjust to the bloodline." Naruto frowned at this, "So after school, you'll learn to use your kekkei genkai's we're gonna train you two to the brink, you two will be the saviors of the elemental nations." Naruto was wide eyed, he had the fate of the world in his hands...He's only eight!! "All right, get your asses to school!" Naruto and Sasuke were gone.

00000000000

"Sasuke-kuuun!! Naruto-kuun!!" Naruto and Sasuke paniced as the fangirls glomped them. "Sasuke-kun, are you ok? Sorry about your clan..." "Naruto-kun, those dots on your forehead are soooo Kawaii!!"

"GET IN YOUR SEATS!!"

The girls all scattered while Sasuke and Naruto sat with Hinata. "Hey, Hinata-chan! You won't believe what happened, I got a bloodline-limit!" Hinata smiled. "Thats great Naruto-kun! What's it called?" Sasuke interrupted. "We can't tell you, you'll find out on your own." Naruto frowned, he wanted to show off, but nodded. "Ok..."

00000000000

At lunch, the SasuNaru fangirls were desperately looking for there Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun, meanwhile said boys were talking to Hinata in their secret location.

"Sasuke-kun, are you ok?" Hinata asked. Sasuke smiled. "I'm fine, if it weren't for Itachi-nii and Naruto, I would've gone crazy and hell bent on revenge." Naruto smiled, Hinata turned to Naruto and blushed. "Narutokun, whats your bloodline callled?" Naruto turned to Sasuke, he gave the ok. "Its called the Dead Bone Pulse, Shikotsumyaku."

Hinata went wide eyed. "Th-that bloodline is from Whirlpool, what's it doing out here?" Naruto shrugged. "My dad says my mom was from whirlpool, so I must've attained it from her." Hinata nodded. She looked at Naruto's red dots on his forehead, they weren't there before. "Naruto-kun, where did those dots come from?" Naruto poked at the dots. "Well, I woke up with them after my terrible fever." "Oh, Naruto-kun. Are you ok?" Naruto-nodded. "Yep, I'm fine...except I can't do jutsu for a week...Not that I knew any besides Shadow Clone and some D ranked Futon jutsus." Hinata giggled at Naruto's frown.

0000000000

After class, Yokoumaru and Itachi came to pick the boys up. Itachi spotted them. Yokoumaru grinned. "I hope you guys are ready for tortu—er, training..."

5 hours later.

Sasuke and Naruto panted as the stumbled inside the home, their training was tough and unforgiving, but it had its benefits, Naruto learned some new moves involving Sky Fang using his bones for a sword. Sasuke activated his two tomoe Sharingan, hefought his brother until he was on the verge of death—A requirement on getting the Sharingan.

"I'm...exhausted..." Sasuke said, wiping of his brow. Naruto nodded, all of the sudden, the door busted open and a Hyuga ran in, Yokoumaru ran in "Whats going on?" he asked, the Hyuga panted. "Cloud-nins...Kidnapped lady Hinata!" Naruto shot up "What? Where is that teme Kumo nin now?" The Hyuga looked at him. "He's probably passing the memorial stone now." "great! I'll catch him!" And with that, Naruto sped away. "Naruto!" Yokoumaru shouted. "Damn, Itachi, Sasuke, follow them!"

At the memorial stone...

The Kumo nin smirked at a bag in his hand, the bag began to squirm. "Damn kid." He kicked the bag until it stopped moving. "Uh-oh! I might've killed her!"

"WHAT!!"

He turned to see a boy with deadly red eyes, with slits for pupils. He had blond hair, blue eyes, dark whisker like marks on his cheeks, and two red dots on his forehead. "You...bastard..." He muttered...

"I'LL KILL YOU!!"

Red chakra burst from the boy, the Kumo nin fell on his ass. "W-What is a Kaguya doing here? And what is this red chakra?" He hollared. Naruto got on all fours and charged at him with a bone sword in hand. The Kumo-nin blocked the attack with his kunai, but barely. He attempted to leg sweep Naruto but the blond jumped up and struk him across his face, leaving a huge scar across it. "My face! You little fuck! **Raiton: Thunderclap!" **The Kumo-nin hit Naruto with a powerful wave of thunder, Naruto was blown back by the force and slammed into a tree, he fell into the blissful world of unconsciousness.

0000000000

when Naruto opened his eyes, he noticed he was staring at a white ceiling, he wondered if this was heaven, but he noticed that there was a weight on him, he looked over to see a head of midnight blue hair. _I'm in the hospital_ he thought, he nudged Hinata awake. "Hinata-chan, wake up." as he did that, he could've sworn he heard her say something on the lines of 'Naruto-kun, don't die...please...' He watched as Hinata's eyes fluttered open, a she looked at him, Naruto smiled. "Hi, did you miss me?" Hiata's eyes teared up as she glomped him. "Oh, Naruto-kun! I thought you wouldn't wake up! This is all my fault, if I didn't get captured you wouldn't have been hurt." she started crying over his shoulder, Naruto wrapped his arms around her to console her. "I'm sorry..." He whispered in her ear.

The door flew open to reaveal Sasuke, Itachi, Yokoumaru, and Hiashi, Yokoumaru went over to hug his son. "Naruto, you're ok." Yokoumaru bopped him on the head. "Ow, what was that for?" He shouted. "You deserve it." He retorted, Hinata wiped her tears and smiled. Hiashi walked over to her daughter. "Hinata, are you ok?" Hinata nodded, then Hiashi faced Naruto. "I have to thank you to help save my daughter." Naruto gave him a foxy grin. "No thanks mentioned." Naruto looked at Itachi. "What happened after I was knocked put?" Itachi explained what happened.

"I can't believe Hinata's Uncle's dead, I'm sorry." Naruto said, Hinata shook her head. "No, it's me to blame, Naruto-kun."

"No, I'm the one to blame, it's my fault I let that ninja in, my brother died because he couldn't stand to see Hinata sad, he took my place in the offering, I did nothing about it."

"Stop!"

Everyone turned to see Sasuke. "It's nobody's fault, ok? If its anyone's blame, blame the Kumo nins!"

Everyone nodded. "So, when do I get out?" Naruto asked. "As soon as Hiashi checks your chakra coils." Yokoumaru replied, Hiashi nodded. "**Byakugan!" **He checked Naruto's chakra coils. He deactivated his White eye and turned to Yokoumaru. "His chakra coils are fine." Yokoumaru arched an eyebrow. "well, it seems the red chakra healed your coils." hinata looked up at the red-haired jonin. "Red chakra?" she asked.Naruto shrugged. "I inherited my dads' chakra, and?"

00000000000

As they all went home, they stopped at Naruto's house,Naruto and co said bye to the Hyuga's Hinata walked up to Naruto especially. She looked at the ground and blushed like a maniac. "Thanks for saving me, Naruto-kun..." She said, Naruto smiled. "Thanks, it was nothing!" Hinata looked up at him and blushed, and then she unexpectedly kissed him on the cheek and ran off to catch up with her dad.

_Hinata-chan just kissed me..._ Naruto said touching a hand to his cheek

It then hit Hinata, _I just kissed Naruto-kun..._

Needless to say, Hinata fainted with a smile on her face.

**A/N: Ok, end of new chapter! Next chapter will be a timeskip to the genin exams!**


	6. Genin Exam, at first sight

A/N: Hey, I'm back with a new chapter of Son of the Kyuubi

**A/N: Hey, I'm back with a new chapter of Son of the Kyuubi! This chapter is a time skip, and it's the genin exams. Oh and Naruto knows the truth about the Kyuubi, I'll have a flashback scene sometime in this story… or maybe none at all! Oh and here's the results of the poll so far:**

**Question: who should Yokoumaru be paired with?**

**Anko: 2**

**Kurenai: 2**

**Shizune: 1**

**An OC: 0**

**P.S: I don't own Naruto**

…**.A few years later….**

* * *

"Naruto!!"

"Sasuke!!"

"WAKE UP!!"

This was the sound coming from the Uzumaki household every morning, but today was different, today was the day that Naruto and Sasuke graduate and become full fledged ninja.

Ever since moving in, Naruto and Sasuke became inseparable, they became like brothers. Itachi is still the older brother, while Yokoumaru is the demon-lord turned father.

Speaking of him, Yokoumaru burst into his sons' room; he picked up Naruto and shook him awake. "D-d-d-da-dadd I-I-I'm up-p-p!" Naruto managed to say, Itachi also shook Sasuke up.

Naruto has changed over the years, he wears a black kimono with orange pants that go just pas his lower shin, and black ninja sandals. Sasuke was wearing a white coat with the Uchiha fan on the back, and black under shirt, and blue pants and matching ninja sandals.

When the two got downstairs, they noticed Itachi was back downstairs in his jonin outfit, Sasuke walked up to him. "Hey Itachi-nii, you're going to be a jonin sensei?" He asked, Itachi nodded. "Yes, there hasn't been much excitement since I left the ANBU, and I don't mind teaching the future generation of shinobi."

Naruto walked up and nodded. "Hey, Sasuke-nii, we gotta go." Sasuke turned to his other brother and nodded. "'Kay, lets go."

Before they walked out, Yokoumaru Body flickered to the door. "Naruto, Sasuke." He said, the boys gave him their attention. "Don't show off during the exam, do the bare minimum to pass, got it?"

"Got it."

000000000000

As they got to the academy, Naruto looked around to make sure they weren't being followed, he looked over to Sasuke. "Coast is clear, no fangirls in sight." Sasuke nodded and they both walked in

….two steps inside…

"NARUUTOO-KUN!!"

"SAASUUKEE-KUN!!"

"Holy shi—" They didn't get the chance to finish as they were glomped by their two biggest fangirls, Sakura and Ino.

"Naruto-kun, how are you today?"

"Sasuke-kun, did you get a new haircut?"

"Help…."

"That's enough!" called Iruka, one of the academy instructors, Ino and Sakura became instantly upset and stalked off, Naruto sighed and secretly thanked Iruka as he and Sasuke walked up to the top row next to Hinata.

Naruto sighed. "Hina-chan, why didn't you help us?"

Hinata giggled. "I didn't have time to react, so I didn't bother…" Naruto furiously ruffled his hair, while Hinata laughed.

"Ok, class. I will call you up individually; you will go into the other room and take the exam, so let's start with Shino Aburame."

The boy called Shino got up from his seat and walked into the other room, a few moments later he walked back in with a hitai-ate on his forehead, he sat back down without even saying a word.

_Creepy…_ Naruto thought.

000000000000

The students walked in one by one, some students walked in with hitai-ates while some walked in with a depressed look on their faces.

"Sakura Haruno, you're next." Iruka said, Sakura jumped from her seat and turned to Sasuke. "Wish me luck, Sasuke-kun!!"

"Sorry, did you say something?" Sasuke said as he turned to his obnoxious fangirl. Sakura had a tick mark on her forehead as she walked inside. Moments later, she walked in with a hitai-ate on her head, she gave a smile to Sasuke and gave a death-glare to Naruto, who just glared back.

"Hinata Hyuga, you're up."

The Hyuga heiress squeaked as she was called up, Naruto put a hand on her shoulder. "Hina-chan you can do it, I know you can." Hinata blushed, "Th-thank you, Naruto-kun." Naruto grinned.

Moments later Hinata walked back into the class, head held high, a leaf hitai-ate on her neck, she walked over to where Sasuke and Naruto were sitting. "Hah, you did it, Hina-chan!" Naruto shouted, Sasuke nodded.

"Kiba Inuzuka, come on up." Iruka announced, Kiba walked up and gave a lecherous grin to Hinata and glared to Naruto. Moments later, Kiba walked in with his brand new hitai-ate, he went straight to Hinata. "So what do you think, Hina-chan? Pretty cool, eh?"

Naruto pointed at him and shouted. "Oi, I'm the only one who calls her Hina-chan!" came gave him a smug grin. "Yeah? Says who?" Naruto glared at him. "Says me!" Kiba laughed, "Yeah, says the guy who has the dots on his forehead! I thought someone was pointing a laser-pointer at your head!"

Naruto grinded his teeth, which gave Kiba a minor headache. "No one insults the dots and gets away with it!" Naruto was about to throw a punch until Sasuke intervened. "Hey Kiba, get your loser-ass away from us, unless you want to keep those arms of yours…" He said, activating his three tomoe Sharingan. Kiba gulped,. "Let's go Akamaru…"

While that whole dispute went on, Sasuke was next. "Sasuke Uchiha, you're up next." The Sasu fangirls and homosexual fanboys swooned as he was called up, Sasuke cringed at the way the fanboys were licking their lips at him, _Do not make eye contact, do not make eye contact…_

A few moments later Sasuke walked in, showing off his leaf hitai-ate to the class, he walked up to his seat and sat down, Naruto turned to him. "So did you do the bare-minimum?" Naruto asked, Sasuke nodded. "Yup, three **Shadow Clones**, easy eh?"

Naruto grinned. "Naruto Uzumaki?" Iruka looked up at him, Naruto nodded and got up and went to the room.

As he got in, he saw the chuunin instructors and Iruka who just walked in. He faced the blond Kaguya and smiled. "Ok, the requirements to pass the class are simple, do a henge, and make a clone."

Naruto nodded. Mizuki looked at him at discuss. _He can't pull of that clone, he'll fail for sure, he has such terrible chakra control _(A/N: Mizuki's mind didn't register the fact Naruto can do shadow clones)

"Ok**, Transform!!"** Naruto had transformed into a perfect likeness of Iruka, Iruka smiled and nodded, "Ok, now show us three clones." Naruto grinned and transformed back. "**Shadow Clone Jutsu!" **Three solid clones poofed into existence, Iruka was impressed. "Well done, I expected nothing less from Sasuke's brother, good job! You pass!" Mizuki stood up. "Wait a second! Naruto didn't even make a clone!" He said, pointing a finger. "Mizuki, we went over this already, **Shadow Clones** are just the same as regular clones, except they are solid. If any academy student can make a shadow clone is good enough to pass."

Mizuki was seething, his plans were ruined. "Fine!" He shouted. Naruto laughed as he got his hitai-ate from his teacher. "What's the matter? Are you sad that your plans went down the toilet?" The academy instructors looked at him. "Plans?" Iruka asked. Naruto grinned. "You'll have to ask the Hokage about that, he's been eying Mizuki for a while."

000000000000

After class, everyone was outside talking about ninja stuff, now that were genin (or so they think) they'll be able to go on dangerous missions, and other kinds of stuff.

Naruto and Sasuke watched in amusement as Mizuki was dragged away by ANBU, they looked up from their seats to see Itachi, chewing on some pocky waiting for them. They went over to him and showed their hitai-ates. "See, we passed, and we did the bare minimum." Naruto said proudly. Itachi smirked. "Good job, how about we go to Ichiraku's to celebrate?"

Naruto and Sasuke happily nodded.

…at the ramen stand…

Itachi watched on in amusement as Naruto and Sasuke had an eating contest, Naruto winning of course. "Another bowl, please!" Naruto shouted to Teuchi, owner of the ramen bar. "Coming right up!" He said happily. Sasuke glared at Naruto. "I swear, you must have five stomachs!" Naruto shook his head. "Nope, just one big one!"

Itachi smiled. "Cute, isn't it?" Said a new voice, he turned to the voice and blushed, there was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. "Right…it is…" He said, trying to hide his blush. Ayame giggled. "True, so what's the occasion?" Itachi tried to look away from the girl. "They passed their genin exams."

Ayame put her hands together. "That's wonderful!" She exclaimed. Itachi nodded as he watched Sasuke go down in defeat.

000000000000

Now, it wasn't rare to see Itachi smile, but smiling this much was weird. Sasuke and Naruto couldn't help but notice this. "Ne, Itachi-nii. Why are smiling so much? It's scaring us." Sasuke asked, Itachi looked on ahead and took a bite out of his pocky stick. "Nothing….It's absolutely nothing."

* * *

**A/N: Yay! End of chap, now that they are genin, I'll tell you whose going to be on whose team.**

**Team 7: Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata (I'll explain why next chapter)**

**Team 8: Ino, Shikamaru, Choji**

**Team 10: Sakura, Shino, Kiba.**

**Also, ItachixAyame, yay!**


	7. Assassination Team 7

A/N: Hey all, back with a new chapter of Son of the Kyuubi, if you are wondering what's up with my other story lone fox… The thing is… I ran out of ideas… So

**A/N: Hey all, back with a new chapter of Son of the Kyuubi, if you are wondering what's up with my other story lone fox… The thing is… I ran out of ideas… So! If anyone can give me ideas for that story it'll be great! But anyway, the polls close next chapter so here are the results so far:**

**Kurenai: 3**

**An OC: 3**

**Anko: 2**

**Shizune: 2**

**Also I'm reconsidering the genin teams; they'll be the same old canon teams, just for the sake of the Sakura bashing.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto by any means, so piss off!**

Naruto was making his way to the Hokage's office to get his picture taken, his brother Sasuke was already there, Naruto fastened his pace so he could get there on time.

As he got to the mansion, he saw Sasuke walk out. "Hey, Sasuke-nii, did you get your picture taken yet?" He asked. Sasuke nodded. "Cool, I'll see you down in a bit." And with that, he went inside.

XxXxXx

As the blond went inside, he noticed Hinata walking down the stairs. "Hey, Hina-chan!!" Naruto called. Hinata looked up and blushed. "Ohayo, Naruto-kun." She said. Naruto grinned. "So, you got your picture taken?" Hinata nodded. "Great, so anyway, what team do you think we might be on?"

Hinata looked up at him. "Ano…I was hoping to be on Kurenai's genin team, she's been like a mother to me." _But I really want to be on your team Naruto-kun. _Nodded smiled. "I was personally hoping to be on Itachi-niisan's squad." Hinata looked up. "Itachi-kun will have a genin team?" Naruto nodded. "Yeah, and I'm really hoping I'll be on his team. But anyway, I held up enough of your time, see you later." Naruto waved and walked up the stairs. "Oh! Hina-chan." Hinata turned. "You shouldn't wear such a heavy coat like that in the summer time; you should save it for winter or going on missions up north." Needless to say, Hinata left the mansion with something to think about.

XxXxXx

After Naruto got his picture taken, he asked for the Sandaime to talk, he asked for everyone to leave his office for a moment.

The aged Hokage sat down at his desk. "So, Naruto-kun is there anything you want to talk about?" He asked, Naruto nodded. "It's about my bloodline limit and my inheritance to the Namikaze estates…"

Sarutobi leaned forward "I'm listening." He said quietly. "Ok, I'm asking that you make sure my being a Namikaze secret from the public until I make chunin, and also my bloodline will be made public that day as well, since I'll be using it in the Chunin Exams no doubt."

Sarutobi took a puff from his pipe. "And what makes you so sure you'll be chunin by the end of the exams?" He inquired, Naruto grinned. "I'll make sure of it, and I'm pretty sure the council will have my back, like it or not…" at the point he mentioned the council, he stopped smiling.

Sandaime nodded, he had told the council about his bloodline limit being the last of its kind in the world, the council wanted him to inherit his biological fathers' fortune as soon as possible, but when he tells them this, they'll get off his back..

"So what about the Shikotsumyaku?" The old Hokage asked, Naruto shrugged. "It won't be the Kaguya bloodline anymore, it'll be the Namikaze bloodline." He said matter-of-fact'lly. Sarutobi nodded. "I'll talk to the council, you'll have nothing to worry about."

Naruto nodded and was about to head out the door when all of the sudden. "All right old man today is the day I defeat you and become Hokage!" Shouted a little boy who barged in with a shuriken in hand, only to fall flat on his face.

Naruto turned to the Sandaime as if asking. 'Who is this brat?' Sarutobi mouthed. 'My grandson, Konohamaru.' Naruto nodded and turned to the boy who was now getting up. "Ow…." He said, he looked up at Naruto "Hey! You tripped me!" He shouted, Naruto had a tick mark on his head. "I didn't trip you, you little brat!" He shouted at the boy, Konohamaru pointed a finger at him. "You can't call me that, I'm the honorable grandson of the third Hokage!" Naruto gave him a smug grin. "I just did…"

Suddenly, Naruto heard some footsteps, followed by someone calling: "Honorable grandson, Honorable Grandson!" Just then, a man with sunglasses and a bandana with Konoha's symbol on it appeared through the doorway, he looked down at Konohamaru, then at Naruto. "You! Ruffian! What are you doing with Honorable Grandson?"

Naruto shrugged. "Nothin', so who are you eh?" Konohamaru looked up at the man and whined. "Ebisu-sensei. Do I have to go now?" He asked, Ebisu nodded. "Of course, now let's go." Konohamaru and his teacher left. (A/N: Since Naruto didn't come up with the Sexy Jutsu, Konohamaru won't learn it from him.)

XxXxXx

Naruto arrived at the academy the next month, today was the day they get their genin teams, Naruto sat next to Sasuke while Sakura sat next to him. (She arrived early for the occasion.)

Naruto and Sasuke were waiting for Iruka to arrive, Naruto was blowing a strand of his hair away from his eyes while Sasuke has adopted his new 'brooding pose' (As Itachi and Naruto put it.) whilst ignoring Sakura's advances.

Naruto was about to sleep when Hinata walked through the door, the boys all gaped at her (Except Naruto and Sasuke) when they saw her without her coat on, the girls all were jealous at Hinata because she was more…developed…then they were. She sheepishly ignored the wolf whistles and cat calls and made her way to Naruto.

The Namikaze smiled at her. "Hey Hina-chan. I see you got rid of that coat, you look prettier without it." He commented, Hinata blushed furiously and nodded. "Thank you…Naruto-kun." Naruto gave her his trademark grin.

Iruka cleared his throat, signifying the students un-divided attention, Iruka grinned. "Ok, today is the day at last, today is the day you become full fledged shinobi. But let me tell you this—forget about your little crushes that are far beyond your reach, the Shinobi world is harsh and cold—silly crushes won't get you anywhere. In the shinobi world, you are expected to kill, fight, and ultimately die for your country and your beliefs."

Iruka stopped and noticed some students going wide eyed, while some were looking down at the ground in deep thought, Iruka continued. "But you will have friends and allies along the way—making things a lot less harsh than it really is, but one day your friend may be your enemy. So if any of you think that you don't have what it takes to be a shinobi, hand me your hitai-ates and leave."

When Iruka noticed that no one was walking up, he smiled. "Ok, so let's get started, team 1, will be consisted of…."

Naruto was too excited to pay attention, he turned to Sasuke. "Hey, Sasuke whose team you think we'll be on?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Who knows?" Sakura then saw this moment to creep up on Sasuke's shoulder. "Naruto you baka, nobody knows what team they'll be on until Iruka-sensei calls them, right Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke turned to her with a bored expression. "Sorry, I didn't catch that." Sakura frowned and slowly withdrew herself, Naruto and Hinata laughed.

"Team 7, will consist of…Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto looked up.

"Sasuke Uchiha…"

Sasuke and Naruto gave each other high-fives.

"…and Sakura Haruno."

Sasuke and Naruto face faulted, Sakura squealed shouting 'true love conquers all!' while Hinata looked teary-eyed _I don't get to be on Naruto-kun's team…_

"Your jonin sensei will be…Itachi Uchiha."

Naruto and Sasuke looked up again; they turned to each other and grinned. Sakura was puzzled at Naruto and Sasuke's interaction. _How does that baka Naruto know who Itachi Uchiha is? I'm pretty sure Sasuke-kun told him but I bet he doesn't know him personally…_

"Team 8 will be consisted of Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka." Naruto gave a feral growl at Kiba's name, while Kiba was jumping up and down. "Yahoo! Akamaru, we get to be on Hina-chan's team!" Hinata winced—she didn't like it when Kiba called her that, she only let Naruto, Sasuke, Kurenai, Itachi, Yokoumaru, and her late mother, but _never _Kiba. She turned to Naruto who gave her a sad smile, he mouthed 'I'm sorry', Hinata smiled sadly as well.

"…And your jonin sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi." Hinata looked up; at least she had some good news, if only a little.

"Team 9, is still cycling from last year so team 10 will consist of Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akamichi, Your jonin sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi."

Ino was upset; she didn't get to be on Naruto-kun's team, now she is on a team with a fatass (Though she won't say it; lest she suffers an Akamichi's wrath) and a lazy Nara.

"Ok class, your senseis will meet with you after lunch, so get out of here and eat."

XxXxXx

At the jonin lounge…

Itachi was sitting on the couch, thinking about the brown haired beauty he met, he chewed some of his pocky and sighed.

"Ita-chan has a crush!!"

"Ita-chan has a crush!!"

He looked up to see Asuma and the rest of the jonin senseis (and Kakashi) grinning at him.

"Do not!" he said in defense.

"Do too! Then why are you blushing?" Kurenai pointed out, Itachi couldn't hide his blush in his jonin outfit, but tried to nonetheless. "Ok…maybe a small crush, emphasis on small." He stated, everyone looked at him with a 'yeah right' expression on his face.

"So enough about me, how bout our students? Do you think Hinata will work well with Kiba, Kurenai? She isn't very fond of him." Itachi said, Kurenai shrugged. "I'll have to work something out later, so what about that Sakura girl? Do you think she'll make good assassin material? If all things sure, Hinata would make a better one than her."

Itachi shook his head.. "No, Hinata is too soft hearted, she's better at tracking anyway, and if Sakura isn't cut out to be an assassin, I'll let Hokage-sama know."

Kakashi then stepped up. "But I don't see why Hokage-sama wouldn't let me be the sensei of your team, I would've made a great sensei!"

The weasel snickered. "Probably because of your constant tardiness."

Kakashi face faulted, then Itachi and the other jonin senseis stood up. "Sorry Kakashi but we have to go now, our teams await." And with that, they all left leaving Scarecrow in the dark.

XxXxXx

Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura were in the classroom. Sasuke was brooding, Sakura was ogling Sasuke, and Naruto was talking to Hinata as much as he can.

Suddenly, the jonin senseis walked in, Itachi greeted his team. "Team 7, the roof, in 4 minuets." He said as he vanished in a puff of smoke, Sakura walked outside to get to the roof, while Sasuke and Naruto smirked.

"**Body Flicker?"**

"You know it!"

Naruto gave Hinata a quick peck on the cheek (Her face) and Body Flickered away.

…on the roof…

Sakura made it to the roof in good time, she was going to be the first on there, other than her sensei, to make it to the roof….or so she thought.

When she made it to the roof she saw Itachi, Naruto, and Sasuke laughing and talking. Sakura was angry at Naruto so she stormed up to him.

"Naruto-baka! How did you get up here so fast?!" She demanded. Naruto looked up at her from his sitting position and shrugged. "**Body Flicker Jutsu, **it comes in handy."

Sakura was about to scream until Itachi cleared his throat. "Ok, Sakura, sit down. We'll introduce ourselves."

"Why don't you show us how it's done, sensei?" Sakura asked.

Itachi nodded. "I'm Itachi Uchiha, I like my brothers and my surrogate father. I hate the man who destroyed my clan and people who threaten my brothers, my goal is to reestablish the Uchiha police force and rebuild the clan."

Itachi signaled to Naruto. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, I like my brothers, my dad, and Hina-chan, I dislike those who are too shallow to see people for who they are, and people who hate other for what they have. My Dream is to establish a new clan with my kekkei genkai, and be Hokage!"

Sakura laughed haughtily, "You don't have a bloodline limit you baka!" she retorted, Naruto laughed back. "Shows what you know."

The pink haired kunoichi turned to Itachi. "Itachi-sensei, does Naruto really have a bloodline limit?" Itachi nodded. "Yes he does. He's the last of his clan, like Sasuke and I."

Sakura just looked questionably at Naruto _Him, the last of his clan? Only Sasuke-kun has that title, not that baka!_

"Pinky, I said you're next."

Sakura looked up at the Uchiha sensei. "Oh, sorry. I'm Sakura Haruno, my likes are…(turns to Sasuke and blushes) my dislikes are Ino-pig and Naruto-baka!" Naruto had a look that said 'why me!!' "And my goals revolve around…(turns to Sasuke and blushes)

Itachi sighed. _A fangirl… Nothing I can't fix_. "So, Sasuke. You're next."

Sasuke nodded. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha, I like my brothers, Hina-chan, and my surrogate father. I hate the man who eliminated the Uchiha clan, and my goal is to rebuild the clan and form a clan alliance with a future clan."

Itachi nodded. "Ok, tomorrow we will begin our training exercise. And one more thing…" He started before walking off. "…Don't eat breakfast, you'll throw it back up."

**A/N: Ok, end of chap, now next chapter will be the bell test, and Sakura goes to tell Ino about Naruto's bloodline. That can't be good!**


	8. The test, and some talks

**A/N: Ok, peoples. It's time for a new chapter of Son of the Kyuubi! The polls are closed now, and it's a three-way tie between an OC, Kurenai, and Shizune. I might just go with Kurenai, but there won't be any KyuubiKurenai for a while, so enjoy the new chapter!**

**Disclaimer: If memory serves me, I believe a guy named Kishimoto owns Naruto, no?**

* * *

Sakura ran straight to Ino's house after coming back from meeting her squad, she pulls up a her house a rings the doorbell, just then, a man with sandy-blond hair answered the door.

Inoichi smiled. "Ah, Sakura, are you here to see Ino-chan?" He asked.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, I need to talk to her about something." Inoichi nodded, "Ok, I'll go get her."

Sakura watched as the Yamanaka clan head walked upstairs to get his daughter, he later returned with Ino in tow. "I'll leave you to alone." He said as he walked off.

Ino put her hands on her hips. "So what is it now, forehead? I was making future plans for Naruto-kun and mine's marriage!!"

Sakura deadpanned. "Look, whatever, but I need to talk to you about him, it's very important."

"Ok, come to my room." She said. She led Sakura to her room. Her room was very neat and tidied-up; the walls were a soft purple color. Sakura noticed that she has an assortment of stuffed animals on her bed; one in particular is an orange nine-tailed chibi-styled fox named 'Naru-chan'.

Ino sat at her desk where a photo of the graduating class. (Ino had hearts around Naruto, forehead written next to Sakura, and bitch next to Hinata) She grabbed her 'Naru-chan' and looked up at Sakura. "So, what do you want to talk about?" She asked.

Sakura sat on her bed. "Well, I learned something new and strange about Naruto…"

Ino gave Sakura he undivided attention. "Really, what!? Tell me!"

Sakura looked at her. "He has a bloodline limit."

XxXxXx

"Achoo!!"

"Eh? Naruto, you don't have cold, do ya?" Sasuke asked.

The two had finished their sparring sessions with Itachi and Yokoumaru; they had gone to bed after they showered.

"Nah, I think some chick must be talking about me." Naruto stated as he went to sleep.

Oh how right he was…

…The next morning…

"Alright otoutos, I'll be at the training ground 20 soon. Remember, don't eat breakfast." Itachi said with a hint of killing intent before he Body Flickered away, Naruto turned to Sasuke and grinned.

"So, are we gonna have waffles, or cereal?"

XxXxXx

When Sakura arrived at training ground 20, she noticed Sasuke and Naruto were there, sitting against a tree, Sasuke brooding, and Naruto was fast asleep. She decided to walk over to Naruto, (much to Sasuke's surprise)

She began to nudge him a bit. "Naruto…" No answer.

She shook him a bit. "Naruto." Still, no response.

So now, she proceeded to violently shake him awake. "NARUTO-BAKA!!"

Naruto snapped awake, Sakura then let go of him.

"Hunh? Sakura, whaddya want? I was trying to sleep until Itachi-sensei decided to come out of hiding…"

Itachi, who was hiding in the bushes, smirked.

"Baka, what are you—whatever, anyway, tell me about your kekkei genkai."

Sasuke looked at Naruto and Naruto looked at Sasuke, he shrugged. "Nope, you'll find out later."

Sakura had a tick-mark on her head. "…Why won't you tell me?"

Naruto sighed. "You'll find out later."

Sakura screeched, she about to pound Naruto into the dirt until Itachi made his appearance, he told them all to gather around the three tree stumps, used for target practice.

Itachi held up two bells. "Ok, gakis. Today is for me to administer the test, I have two bells here, get one from me, and you get to eat lunch and stay on the team."

Sakura spoke up. "What if we don't get a bell, Itachi-sensei?"

Itachi grinned. "You'll be sent back to the academy." Sakura froze, she looked over to Sasuke to him and Naruto not even flinching. "So now, if you are all done with the questions, let's get started."

The shinobi all retreated to the woods around them. Sasuke found Naruto and went over to him. "Hey Naruto, I have an idea…"

Meanwhile Sakura hid into the woods until she got a perfect view of the field where Itachi stood patiently. She then saw Naruto jump down from where ever he was and began to engage Itachi.

"Alright, Itachi-niisan, those bells are mine!" He declared, Itachi scoffed. "Oh really? Let's find out….Naruto-kun."

Naruto removed his battle kimono, revealing his exposed upper body; Naruto pulled out a bone sword from his shoulder and got into his stance.

Sakura looked in mild awe and disgust, awe because she finally got to witness his kekkei genkai, disgust because of what the kekkei genkai is.

And also another set of eyes, one that none of the genin knew, went wide-eyed and retreated with a thought on his mind. _I'm not the last one after all…Does that mean he lied to me?_

Itachi grinned. "The Shikotsumyaku, I see." Naruto smirked as he charged forward, the blond genin made a series of stabs towards the Uchiha-sensei, Itachi managed to dodge them all without even using his Sharingan, Naruto then proceeded to use **'Sky fang Art: Rabid Attack' **to stab Itachi in the heart, he was in mild shock as Itachi grabbed his wrist before he had the chance for his move to connect, Itachi squeezed it enough for Naruto to drop his bone sword, and proceeded to toss him in the air.

_Now's my chance. _Sasuke thought as he charged forward while Naruto rebounded from his fall behind him, While Itachi was distracted—Sasuke threw a punch, but to his disappointment; Itachi caught it.

"Foolish little brother…" Itachi joked as Sasuke pulled back his punch, Sasuke then attempted to engage him in a Taijutsu fight, Sasuke jumped up and attempted to kick Itachi in the head, Itachi grabbed his foot and spun him around, Sasuke regained his footing and crouched down and kicked Itachi in the chin, causing him to go airborne, but to Sasuke's disappointment, "A shadow clone?!" He then felt a pair of hands grab his ankle and drag him under. Itachi rose and smirked. "**Doton: Head hunter Jutsu, **Success."

Sakura panicked when she saw her Sasuke-kun go down and she waited for him to get back up…but he didn't Sakura got up from her hiding spot and ran over to Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun, are you ok—EEEEKK!!" She fainted when she saw Sasuke buried from the neck up; thinking he was decapitated. Sasuke and Itachi sweat dropped. _I'm going to have to fix that…fast. _Itachi thought.

Naruto leapt down from the tree a laughed his ass off at Sakura's scream, he went over to Sasuke and grinned "That was priceless…" Sasuke said to his brothers.

Naruto laughed some more. "Here, let's get you out." He said as he made a Shadow Clone, the clone then used **Substitution** to switch with Sasuke then proceeded to poof away. Just when they were about to think of a plan, a timer went off.

Itachi Body Flickered between them. "Time's up, grab Sakura and tie her to the training post."

XxXxXx

When Sakura came to, she noticed her sensei, Naruto-baka, and Sasuke-kun were all looking at her; Itachi was the first to speak. "Welcome back to the land of consciousness, concession stands are to your left, and…" He got elbowed in the arm by Sasuke.

Sakura decided to go up to until she realized she couldn't move, she noticed the rope around her body and then noticed she was suspended in the mid-air, she then let out a yell. "What am I doing here, tied to this post!?" She shouted.

Itachi sighed. "You never made an attempt to get a bell, Sasuke and Naruto were the only ones, and plus your skills and sense of teamwork is drop-dead pitiful." He said bluntly.

Sakura looked down. "But, Naruto-baka and Sasuke-kun didn't even get a bell, or did they work together (She then looks up at Itachi with pained eyes) from what I saw, Naruto-baka got in Sasuke-kun's way!!"

Itachi radiated some killing intent. "I appreciate that you don't insult my outouto like that, he is not a baka, he could easier be smarter than me if he wanted to. And Naruto didn't get in Sasuke's way, they work out a plan to get the bells, they would've succeeded had they ran out of time to fully go out with the plan. At any time, you could've sneaked in and took the bells from me; but you didn't. In fact, the only thing you did was scream like the little girl you are."

Sakura looked down, ashamed. She really didn't do much for the team at all besides scream and faint, she thought

Itachi looked at her and sighed. "So now that you know your mistakes, are you willing to work on this team? Are you willing to be dedicated to be a kunoichi? Are you willing to give up your silly infatuation with my little brother, Sasuke, and be serious and proud leaf ninja?"

Sakura looked up with full determination in her eyes. "Hai!" She answered.

Itachi smirked. "You all pass, welcome to team 7." Naruto and Sasuke grinned as Itachi cut the ropes letting Sakura down, he handed them lunch boxes as they sat down and ate lunch. As they ate, Sakura had a question. "Itachi-sensei, you said that Naruto was your outouto? But isn't Sasuke-kun your brother, too?"

Itachi laughed. "Of course he is, and Naruto is my brother too, the only thing that is keeping us from becoming real brothers is blood."

Sakura nodded, she finally got to know why Naruto kept calling Itachi 'niisan' even though they weren't related.

Another question got Sakura's mind. "Itachi-sensei? What is this squad for? I know Hinata's squad is tracking; Ino-pig's squad is capture and interrogation, but what about us?"

Itachi took a bite out of his pocky and simply said. "Escorts and assassination." He smirked as he saw Sakura pale. "Ok, you guys are dismissed, tomorrow we'll begin our first mission, be at the Hokage tower at 800 hours." And with that, he, Naruto, and Sasuke body flickered away leaving Sakura alone.

XxXxXx

Meanwhile…

A sickly looking young-man with white hair, a battle kimono with shinobi pants, and two red dots on his forehead, bowed to his master. His master stood. "Report, Kimimaro. I do hope that your mission was a success." He said in a slippery tone.

Kimimaro Kaguya bowed. "Hai, your vessel was training with his jonin sensei and teammates; he hasn't used the sharingan, so he must not have obtained it."

His master opened his slit yellow eyes and glared into Kimimaro's sickly soul. "I see, now be gone." Kimimaro bowed and walked off, thinking of how he could meet up with his relative from Konoha…

* * *

**A/N: Ok, new chapter! I hope you like my foreshadowing, and for Yokoumaru's pairing, I'm pairing him with Kurenai, like it or not. Oh and if you have any questions or concerns don't hesitate to ask!**

**Dzero009, out!**


	9. Conflicts and rivalries

A/N: Hey, hey, hey

**A/N: Hey, hey, hey! I'm back with a new chapter of Son of the Kyuubi! Woo! In this chapter, the head off to Wave! And only one more chapter until Yokoumaru meets Kurenai!**

**Oh, and I read some of the reviews and I must say…Why would you believe Sakura got rid of her fangirlness just because Itachi told her too? You know people, some habits die hard.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sasuke! No, wait, Naruto!**

"This is Sunshine in position, Weasel, do you copy?"

"This is Weasel, Fishcake, are you in position?"

"Hai, I've located the target, roughly thirty feet from me and Blossom."

"I see, Blossom, zero-in on the target."

"Roger."

Sakura jumped out of her hiding spot to capture the target, which is the daimayo's wife's cat, Tora, the cat, seeing her, hissed and ran away. Sakura radioed in: "Fishcake, the target is on the run. It is heading towards you!"

"Roger that!" Naruto jumped out from his hiding spot and pulled out some bones to make a makeshift cage around the cat, Tora then tried to jump out, but Naruto had already put his battle kimono over the cat, suffocating it (Of course until it decides to surrender.)

Naruto radioed to his the team. "This is Fishcake, the cat has been secured, Sunshine, bring the cage."

Sasuke walked out of his hiding with the cage, Naruto hoisted the cat up, and stuffed it into the cage, Itachi and Sakura walked up to them. "Mission success, let's go and report to the Hokage." The three genin nodded and Body Flickered away.

XxXxXx

On the way back to the Hokage tower, Team 7 ran into Team 8, Naruto instantly ran over to Hinata, "Hina-chan! how was your mission?" He asked her, Hinata blushed a bit.

"Well, we went out to the farms pulling weeds and such." She answered, Naruto frowned a bit. "The sounds downright boring! Why do we get such boring missions!!" He shouted to the sky.

Itachi put a hand on his shoulder. "Because, you're only rookie genin, you've been out of the academy for only 5 months." Naruto sighed while Hinata giggled, Kiba meanwhile glared at Naruto, sakura noticed this and narrowed her eyes.

_Damn you, Hinata! You got two boys fighting over you!_ She thought,

_**Cha! She that's only because she's a Hyuga, I bet she has boys flocking all around her! Oh no, she might try to take Sasuke-kun away from us! Inner Sakura concluded.  
**_

_That little bitch!_

When Sakura came out of her thoughts she saw the conjoined teams at the entrance to the Hokage Tower, Sasuke waved a hand towards her, "Yo! Sakura, are you coming are not?" He asked, Sakura looked over at him. "Coming, Sasuke-kun!"

As they were walking up the tower, Kurenai noticed the change in behavior of her genin, while Shino remained impassive, Hinata was chatting openly with Naruto, while Kiba was glaring at the two—mainly Naruto, she even heard him growl whenever Hinata called Naruto 'Naruto-kun' and Naruto called Hinata 'Hina-chan'.

At last, they made to the Hokage's office, Itachi and Kurenai stepped forward.

"Mission success, we've delivered Tora to its owner and received payment." Itachi said.

"Mission accomplished, we finished pulling the weeds for Doreone-san's garden, and received payment." Kurenai stated.

The Hokage nodded and turned to Iruka, who was rummaging through files, "Ok, we have some more missions for team 7, like gardening, painting a house and baby sitting—"

Naruto growled in frustration. "Grr! I'm sick and tired of D-rank missions, we've been doing D-ranks for 5 FRICKIN MONTHS!! I want a C-rank, at least." Naruto finished.

Iruka sighed. "Fine, how 'bout this? A C-rank escort mission to Wave Country. All you have to do is protect the client from bandits and thieves, do you want this?"

Naruto looked up eagerly at Itachi, he closed his eyes and sighed. "We'll take it."

Naruto shouted 'Yatta!' while Sasuke smirked and Sakura glared at Naruto for his enthuasim while Hinata giggled.

Sarutobi nodded. "Bring in the client." The ANBU at the door nodded and opened it, revealing a middle aged civilian man with a bag of tools on his back, and some sake in his hands. He looked at Team 7, and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Eh? What is this? I get a pack of weak brats? The blond with the dots is especially weak."

Before his team (and Hinata) could unload on the man, Itachi glared at him with his Sharingan spinning wildly. "I'll have you know that my team isn't weak. My team has been training for this kind of mission and we'll be more than enough to protect you."

Tazuna shifted nervously in his gaze, he gulped. "I'm n-not buying it."

Itachi sighed, then came up with a solution. "Then how about we bring one more person with us?" He then turned to the Hokage. "If that is all right with you, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi nodded. "Of course, but who are you going to bring?"

Itachi turned his gaze to Kurenai. "Kurenai-san, I was wondering if you'd let me borrow Hina-chan for this mission, I'll be sure to bring her back in one peace."

Kurenai looked down to Hinata, she nodded with determination in her eyes, she then looked up at Itachi. "Ok, but you better make sure she comes back safely or I'll castrate you." She threatened.

Itachi nodded nervously, knowing she _will _hold up to that threat—no, promise. "Ok, meet at the gates in one hour, pack everything you'll need." And with that, Team 7 and Hinata Body Flickered away.

XxXxXx

Naruto and Sasuke arrived home, and walked in, they noticed Yokoumaru sitting on the couch with a bored expression, Naruto walked over to him. "Hey, Tou-san! We got a C-ranked mission."

Yokoumaru looked at him with his blood red eyes. "No shit?" He asked, Naruto nodded, Yokoumaru smiled. "Finally!! I was about to visit the old man about that tomorrow but, oh well!"

Naruto nodded. "Oh yeah, I gotta go, I need to pack." And with that, he went to his and Sasuke's room.

Yokoumaru smiled fondly, and gazed at his fox-fang necklace. _I'll have to teach him that Jutsu, when he gets back._

…With Hinata…

Hinata had finished packing 20 minuets early, so she waited by the gates, she noticed Sakura walk up to her with her stuff in tow.

"Hinata, I need to ask you something." She said in all seriousness as she walked up to Hinata.

"Sure Sakura, what do you want?" Sakura gritted her teeth at the innocence in her voice.

"Why are you playing Naruto and Kiba like that? I know you're making Kiba jealous by pretending to like Naruto, you've been using him, since you met." Sakura said, this was the part where Hinata would laugh evilly and say: 'You're right, muhahahaha!!', but it was the opposite, Hinata glared at Sakura in fury.

"I'm not playing anybody! I don't even like Kiba! I would never do that to Naruto-kun, I just wouldn't…because I…" Hinata began to blush a bit.

Sakura was confused. "What do you mean, Kiba always glares at Naruto because he's with you, and so I thought—"

"Well you thought wrong, Kiba only likes me because I'm a Hyuga, Naruto-kun likes me because of who I am, he would never want to see me sad, when my mother died, he was there for me, he truly cares for me…"

Sakura scoffed and looked behind her to see Naruto, Sasuke, Itachi, and the client heads towards the gate. Itachi walked up to the girls. "Are you all set?" He asked. The girls nodded. "Ok, let's head out to Nami no kuni."

**A/N: End of chap, sorry for the length, but it was necessary. Anyway, next chapter they confront Zabuza and the Demon Bros. Meizu and Gozu, uh-oh!**


	10. Traveling to Nami no Kuni

A/N: Dzero009 here with another chapter of Son of the Kyuubi

**A/N: Dzero009 here with another chapter of Son of the Kyuubi. It's time for the Demon Bros to make their meager appearance... yay…**

**On a related note, Mr. Host pwns!!**

**I don't own Naruto!**

As the team 7 plus Hinata made their way to wave, Itachi couldn't help but notice the change in demeanor of his team since Hinata joined. Naruto and Sasuke became more talkative and one or more occasion, Naruto and Hinata would flirt with each other, but Sakura…She was glaring at Hinata with such intensity it could melt the polar ice caps in 3-4 seconds…while looking _away_.

Itachi shook his head. He looked at the client between Naruto and Sasuke to see him more sober since they started their journey, this is the best thing that has happened one this mission action-wise.

"And then I mastered it! That jutsu could wipe out a forest!" Naruto bragged.

Sasuke smirked while putting his hands in his pockets. "Heh, my jutsu could _incinerate_ a forest, there probably wouldn't be any ashes left."

Naruto laughed, Hinata giggled, while Sakura was star-struck. _**'Cha! Sasuke-kun knows a super cool jutsu! Take that Naruto-baka and White-Eyed witch!**_

Naruto looked over to Sasuke. "True, but the combined jutsu's could destroy a hidden village if we wanted to commit suicide by using up _all _our chakra."

Hinata went wide eyed, and she could've sworn Sakura and Tazuna did the same, Itachi remained impassive.

…later...

As Team seven was on their way to wave, Naruto noticed something off…_A puddle? _He thought _It hasn't rained in weeks…unless…_ He looked over to Sasuke and Hinata to see that they both noticed the puddles by their body language, Naruto walked up to Itachi and made hand signs. _Two enemy Nins, use Lightning Blade._

Itachi nodded and stopped. "Ok, kids, this looks to be a good spot to show you all an A-ranked assassination jutsu called **Lightning Blade**. It's a jutsu my ANBU buddy, Kakashi uses, he taught it to me after I moved in with Yokoumaru and Naruto."

Itachi walked between the puddles and prepared the seals. "Now watch closely, and no using the sharingan to copy it, Sasuke." Sasuke sighed, but nodded. Itachi placed his right hand towards the ground, the girls and Tazuna looked amazed as lightning crackled to life in his hand, they noticed a current of lightning flow away from him to the puddles, Sakura and Tazuna were stunned when two ninjas emerged from the puddles and were shaking violently as lightning coursed through them, in a few moments they dropped, Itachi smirked. "That was lightning manipulation I used to kill the two." Itachi said matter-of-factly.

He signaled Naruto and Sasuke to identify the bodies. "It's Meizu and Gozu, two missing Nins from Kirigakure no Sato." Sasuke said.

Hinata dug into her backpack until she pulled out a small blue book, Sakura noticed this as the bingo book, Hinata began to read. "They are C-ranked missing nins, their bounty is 3,000 ryo each, they are Chunin ranked and attack in a pair, they are also known as the 'Demon Brothers'" Naruto gave a thumbs up to Hinata as she blushed a bit, Sakura growled.

Itachi nodded to the Hyuga. "Ok, all of you watch what I'm going do, Tazuna you can turn away." The genin watched as Itachi beheaded the two nukenins and sealed them into a scroll, the genin had mix reactions. Sakura threw up her lunch, Hinata shivered a bit, Sasuke and Naruto looked indifferent, they had killed before (Not humans of course).

Itachi stood up and glared at Tazuna (who turned back around) and activated his copy-wheel-eye. "Tazuna-san, I believe you have some explaining to do." He said, he took a step—to only see Tazuna back away, the genin (minus Sakura) noticed a small smirk on Itachi's face, he took another step forward as Tazuna took two steps back. "Not only were they ninja…" He started as he took another step forward. "But they were missing nin as well—chunin to be exact. If you have ninja after you, then this mission is easily A-ranked or high B-rank, far out of most genin's reach…" Itachi closed his eyes and Tazuna sighed in relief as they went back to normal. "But not my genin…nor Hina-chan." They all smiled except Sakura, Itachi looked at the elderly architect. "But you do have some explaining to do."

Tazuna sighed. "All right, I'll tell you everything…"

XxXxXx

Yokoumaru went through his normal shortcut to the Hokage's office: Leave home, lock the door, rooftop jump to the tower and break the window, pissing the old man off. Yokoumaru was called to the Hokage tower for an A-rank mission, its simple; Wipe out the missing nin that are holding up a nearby town. Simple, right? Wrong. Rumors have it that Fugaku Uchiha was involved somehow, Yokoumaru was ecstatic when he heard that. He'd finally be able to find out were Madara is hiding.

Kurenai Yuhi was waiting for their third teammate to arrive, she was on an A-rank mission with Kakashi (He was told he was four hours late so he came via body flicker) and Konoha's Demon Fox and the Leaf Kunoichi Women's Association 'must have' single father of three (Itachi and Sasuke), Yokoumaru Uzumaki. When Kurenai found out she was on a mission with _him_ she squealed like a certain pink-haired fangirl. She had a HUGE crush on Yokoumaru since he became known through the shinobi population and not just for his good-looks oh no, it's much more…

She looked up at the open window expecting him to arrive, Sarutobi cleared his throat. "Ok, since Yoko-san has yet to arrive we'll—" Before he could finish, his other window (which was closed) shattered into a billion pieces as a certain red-haired demon-fox appeared through the window, Kurenai had to fight back a blush.

Yokoumaru grinned a foxy gin, "Ladies and Gentlemen! Konoha's Demon Fox has arrived!" He said in an 'MC' kind of voice. Kakashi clapped, and Kurenai looked away with a smirk. Yokoumaru situated himself in front of the Hokage's desk. "So old man? Like my appearance? This'll put Guy's **Dynamic Entry **to shame, won't it?" He said with a confidant grin.

"YOKOUMARU! HOW MANY TIMES DID I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO STOP CRASHING THROUGH THE WINDOW!!1!" Sarutobi yelled.

Yokoumaru cleaned his left ear. "I dunno, 65,399 times maybe?" He said.

"Um… It's 65,402. You forgot last years Kyuubi festival, remember? You remember when those kids were playing 'Whack-A-Fox'?" Yokoumaru 'oh'ed.

Sarutobi sighed. "Damn…demon lords and their antics…" He muttered. He looked u at the jonins. "Your mission is to wipe out the missing nin stationed in Asano Town, it'll be a 2-4 week mission considering it's a long way from Konoha."

The jonins nodded. The third nodded. "Ok, get packed, Yokoumaru is team leader."

And the jonins left the office.

XxXxXx

"That's enough training for the day, y'all dismissed." Said Asuma Sarutobi, as he left the training grounds leaving his team behind.

Ino turned to her team. "Hey, I'm going to go home, see you tomorrow." Shikamaru nodded while Choji continued to eat his chips, Ino sighed and left.

As Ino walked down the road to her home, she sighed again. _Why did that bitch Sakura get to be on Naruto-kun's team? This system has something against true love… that has to be it…Alright! When he gets back from his mission, I'll be sure to treat him to dinner!_

Ino smiled to no one in particular and ran off.

XxXxXx

As they continued their journey to Wave, Naruto threw a kunai in a bush. "Naruto you baka! What was that for?" Sakura shouted to him, Naruto ignored her and watched a white rabbit came scurrying out the bush. Naruto sighed. "Just a rabbit…" Naruto said.

Hinata sensed something off. "That rabbit was white, that kind of rabbit is only white in the winter."

Sasuke turned to her. "Which means…?"

"Get down!!" Itachi shouted as everyone went down, barely dodging the zambato that was aiming for their heads. A man appeared on the zambato's handle, he smirked. "Heh, I expected nothing less from the 'Copy Wheel Weasel' Itachi."

Itachi turned to him. "Zabuza Momochi…Demon of the Hidden Mist…Seems like we'll be paid extra for your head."

**A/N: End of chapter, sorry I had to end it there, cliffhanger stuff. Oh, and don't mind that Sasuke and Naruto know a powerful jutsu, they'll use them and you'll see why they're so powerful. So anyway, next chapter, Zabuza, Inari, chakra control exercises, and KyuubiKure, and SasufemHaku!**


	11. Battle on the Water

Zabuza: Whazzup, maggots

**Zabuza: Whazzup, maggots? I'm Zabuza Momochi…**

**Dzero009: And I'm Dzero009!! Zabuza is hosting this section with me!**

**Zabuza: Dammit, brat. Must you be so energetic?**

**Dzero009: Yep!**

**Zabuza: Ugh…**

**Dzero009: Say the disclaimer, Zabuza!**

**Zabuza: Dzero009 does not own Naruto… thankfully.**

**Dzero009: That's it! Itachi kick his ass!**

**Itachi: Hai, Tsukuyomi!!**

**XxXxXx**

Team 7 plus Hinata all looked at the no-browed mist nuke-nin in front of them, they all had various thoughts.

_Whoah! What's up with that outfit?-Naruto_

_This guy must be strong…my knees can't stop shaking…-Sasuke_

_The demon of the mist…he killed his whole graduating class because he failed…It makes me wonder if that will happen to the leaf-Hinata_

_Oh no, he'll kill us for sure! __**Then we won't be able to marry Sasuke-kun!**__-Guess who._

Itachi activated his Sharingan, and turned to his team. "Protect Tazuna; I'll handle no-brows." He said reassuringly.

Zabuza narrowed his eyes. "Insults will only hasten your death." He threatened, he then ran through some hand seals. "**Hidden Mist Jutsu!"** He called as the mist thickened.

Itachi smirked. _Things got interesting. _The 17-year-old thought. Itachi stopped smirking when he heard Zabuza's voice:

"Eight points."

Naruto and Sasuke gulped, Hinata shivered at the Killing Intent in Zabuza's voice, Tazuna shivered so much he dropped his Sake bottle, and Sakura openly soiled herself. Naruto drew a bone sword while Sasuke activated his Sharingan.

"Spine, Liver, Lungs, Kidney, Jugular, Clavicle Heart, and the Brain." The group was now shaking, before they knew it, Zabuza appeared in the center of their formation. "IN ONE SWEEP!!" He shouted, but before he could cleave their little heads off—a kick sent Zabuza sprawling into the lake; Itachi appeared as his genins (and Hinata) turned to him.

"I-Itachi-sensei!" Naruto shouted in relief. Itachi grinned at them. "Don't worry about Zabuza; I'll protect you all with my life." Naruto nodded, feeling a little bit better.

Itachi went over Zabuza was, only to find him gone. The next thing Itachi knew was evil laughter behind him before a giant Zanbato cut him in half, Zabuza smirked, but his smirk vanished when 'Itachi' turned into water and explode in his face; Zabuza went flying to the other side of the lake, Zabuza glared at the spot he was once in. _Damn, if I hadn't blocked that jutsu with my Zanbato…I'd be in pieces… _He looked up to see Itachi coming down at him with an ANBU sword, prepared to slice him in half—Zabuza blocked the blow with his Zanbato, Itachi jumped back.

Zabuza sneered "What was that jutsu you used?" He asked.

Itachi smirked and made a one handed seal. **"Clone jutsu: Super Explosion!!" **Zabuza looked behind him to see another clone prepared to detonate, Zabuza's eyes widened as the clone exploded.

XxXxXx

The ground shook beneath the genin and Tazuna as another exploding clone went off. Naruto, holding Hinata, stood. "Dammit Itachi-sensei! Using **Clone Jutsu: Super Explosion** right off the bat!" He said.

Sasuke looked over at him. "Yeah, and also that jutsu eats up a lot of chakra, he can only use it 5 more times before he faints of chakra exhaustion."

Hinata began to sweat. "Th-then what do we do?"

Naruto looked at her. "We'll wait and see."

XxXxXx

…Meanwhile…

Yokoumaru and his team were on the move until he made a stop. "Hold up." He said.

Kakashi eyed. "What's wrong?"

Yokoumaru sniffed the air, he glared at Kurenai. "Show yourself!"

'Kurenai' Chuckled darkly before a poof of smoke appeared to reveal a woman with short blue hair, with a paper flower in it, she also was wearing black robes with red clouds.

Kakashi's gaze hardened. "You…Akatsuki. What are you doing here?" He asked.

Yokoumaru glared at the woman with his slit red eyes. "Isn't it obvious Kakashi? Something big is happening in Asano town. Why other than to send the leader's right-hand woman, Konan, the Angel of Amegakure."

Kakashi lifted his hitai-ate to expose his Sharingan. "Where's Kurenai?"

Konan gave them an impassive look. "She's a little busy right now, handling other business."

Yokoumaru's eyes widened. "You bitch."

"Ooh, that hurt." Konan said in mock hurt.

"So why are here? What's happening in Asano town?" Kakashi asked.

"You'll find out if you get there at all." She said as paper seemingly appeared out of nowhere….

XxXxXx

Itachi and Zabuza exchanged blows as they landed across from each other, Zabuza was panting heavily as Itachi had an impassive look on his face. Zabuza tossed his sword into the air and made hand signs. "Die, Itachi! **Sution: Water Dragon Missile!" **Zabuza caught his sword as dragons made of water arose from the lake and headed towards Itachi's direction.

Itachi prepared hand seals of his own **"Katon: Dragon Flame Bombs!" **A stream of fire shot out from Itachi's mouth as it collided with the water dragons, the jutsus cancelled each other out an even thicker mist surrounded the area. Itachi gritted his teeth. "Hmm, ** Futon: Gre—"**

"**Water Prison Jutsu!!"**

Itachi's eyes widened as water surrounded him and compacted into a sphere, he looked around to see Zabuza holding the water prison.

"Looks like ya lucked out, Itachi."

Itachi sneered.

"Itachi-sensei!" Hinata shouted.

"What happened?" Naruto asked in worry. Sasuke turned to Hinata as well.

"He's trapped in the Water Prison jutsu, he can't escape!" She responded, Naruto cursed and looked over to Sasuke, he turned to him with Sharingan eyes and nodded.

"Ok, Sasuke and I will save Itachi-sensei, meanwhile you give us cover. Sakura, you protect our client." Naruto said, Sasuke nodded and drew some kunai.

"Why should I listen to you!?" Came the shout from Sakura.

"Sakura SHUT UP!! Now do as my brother says!" Sasuke ordered in anger. Naruto nodded and Sasuke turned to Hinata. "Lead the way."

Hinata nodded and led them across the water to the center of the lake, they saw three figures in the mist. "Stand back." Naruto said, he went through some hand seals and said: **"Futon: Great breakthrough!**" Naruto stretched his hands out and a large gust of wind seemingly out of nowhere appeared and cleared through the mist, two of three figures vanished along with it (A/N: Mizu Bunshins…)

What they saw was Itachi trapped in a water prison and Zabuza holding it up, Zabuza turned to them with a smirk under his bandages. "Well, well. The blond one has skills." He said, He looked around and saw no sign of the other one. "Where's duck butt?"

"Up here! **Katon: Ultra Fire Bullet!" **Zabuza looked up to see Sasuke launch a stream of fire at him, he had no choice but to let go of his water prison. Sasuke landed to see Zabuza gone.

"Behind you, Sasuke!" Sasuke's eyes widened as Zabuza appeared behind him, ready to strike, but before Zabuza could cleave Sasuke in half; a voice rang through the mist.

"Your in range of my divination." Zabuza stopped to see Hinata behind him, he looked over to see Sasuke gone.

"Oh, Shi—"

"**Eight Trigrams: Sixty-four Palms!"**

"**Two Palms!"**

"**Four Palms!"**

"**Eight Palms!"**

"**Sixteen Palms!"**

"**Thirty-two Palms!"**

"**Sixty-four palms!"**

The force of the last palm sent Zabuza flying through a tree, and crashing into another. Zabuza looked up to see Itachi. "Good job, you all." Itachi said to the genin. "Now, di—"

Before Itachi could finish two senbon needles came from the trees and pierced Zabuza's neck, he slumped over—dead. A hunter nin appeared next to the body as the genin (minus Sakura) walked up. "Thank you for weakening the body for me, now I must dispose of it, farewell." Was all that the hunter nin said before she Body Flickered Away.

Naruto was pissed. "Damn her! She stole our kill!" He said, clearly not happy that all he did was make the hunter nin's jab easier.

Itachi looked at the trees, then at the genin. "Get Sakura and Tazuna, where going to Tazuna's house."

**A/N: Welp, end of chap! I've got to say, I like this chapter a lot. So, if your wondering why Hinata knows Eight Trigrams: Sixty-four palms is because Hiashi actually took the time of day to train her properly, and also Sasuke's Fire bullet is from Ultimate Ninja 3.**

**Team Profiles:**

**Team Itachi (7)**

**Itachi Uchiha- Itachi is one of the last Uchiha's and jonin sensei of team 7. He is 17 years old and has a weird fetish of pocky, he is seen with strawberry flavored pocky where ever he goes. Itachi is also the biological brother of Sasuke Uchiha, and surrogate brother of Naruto Uzumaki. He holds the legendary Mangekyou Sharingan, but Itachi is reluctant to use it's powers.**

**Naruto Uzumaki-Naruto is the dobe of his graduating class and a member of team 7. He is 13 and is obsessed with eating ramen. Naruto also has a kekkei genkai, called the Shikotsumyaku, or the Dead Bone Pulse, a bloodline originating from Whirlpool Country. His father is Yokoumaru—or the Kyuubi no Yoko disuised as a human to protect Naruto, his surrogate brothers are Itachi Uchiha and Sasuke Uchiha.**

**Sasuke Uchiha-Sasuke is one of the last Uchiha's and member of team 7. Sasuke's current age is thirteen. During the aftermath of the Uchiha Massacre, Sasuke began to hate and despise his father, and aspired to kill him. If it wasn't for Itachi and his friend he would've became an avenger. His surrogate family consists of Naruto Uzumaki, Yokoumaru, and his blood brother, Itachi.**

**Sakura Haruno- The only female of team 7. She is 13 and is hopelessly in love with Sasuke, despite the fact that he dislikes her. Sakura hates Naruto because he always tries to act cool even though he is the 'dobe' and is Sasuke's closest friend. She also hates her former best friend Ino because of her affection with Naruto. Sakura believes that Hinata is using Naruto and is still trying to prove that it is true.**


	12. Training

As the group arrived to Tazuna's house they were greeted by the sight of the wave village. The village was in shambles, buildings were old and most were boarded up; People on the streets were malnourished and had looks of despair on their faces.

Sasuke turned to Tazuna. "You told us it was bad, but—I never thought THIS bad."

"…Tazuna, which way to the house?" Itachi asked.

Tazuna was startled. "Oh, Th-this way. Let me introduce you to my daughter and grandson." He said.

When they entered the house, they were greeted by a beautiful woman with long black hair; she went up to Tazuna and hugged him. "Father you're home!" She said happily. She at the shinobi (Itachi mostly). "Are these the ninja you hired?" She asked.

Tazuna nodded. "Yup they sure are Tsunami, these super ninja are gonna protect me while I build the bridge."

Tsunami giggled. "Really? Well then, what are your names?"

The genin introduced themselves:

"I'm Sakura Haruno"

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"Naruto Uzumaki!"

"Hinata Hyuga."

"…And I'm Itachi Uchiha. Pardon us, but we'd like to stay here until the mission is complete."

Tsunami nodded. "Of course, let me show you to your rooms."

She led them upstairs to their rooms. "The boys will sleep here, and the girls will sleep across the hall. Also, Dinner will be ready soon—I assume you'll be joining us?"

Itachi nodded. "Ok, I'll leave you alone, now." Itachi watched as Tsunami went downstairs, he turned to his team. "Team meeting in our room, girls." He said. The girls nodded as they went inside, Itachi shut the door.

"Everyone, sit down." He ordered, they did as they were told. Itachi then sat down and sighed. "Ok, we'll be training for the next week we're here; we'll need to be at the top of our game when Zabuza returns."

Collective gasps rang through the room.

"Wh-whaddya mean, Itachi-sensei? I thought that Hunter-nin—."

"That hunter-nin wasn't a hunter at all, Sakura. Hunter nin don't use senbons for assassinations. And if their target is killed, they're supposed to dispose of the body on the spot. No matter who's around."

Itachi let that thought sink in before he continued (Not before pulling some pocky seemingly out of nowhere) "Tonight we'll just relax, but tomorrow we start our training."

As soon as he finished a knock was heard at the door. "Come in." Itachi said.

Tsunami peeked her head through the door. "Dinner's ready." She said.

-o-

Dinner was interesting to say the least. Naruto and Sasuke were having their usual eating contest, and both girls rooted for their respective boy—but it would always end in Naruto winning and Sasuke mumbling something about '5 stomachs'.

Through dinner Itachi felt like he was being watched, he turned to see Tsunami looking at him, then turning away with a blush, Itachi smirked.

-o-

The next morning, Naruto woke up to the smell of breakfast. He also noticed Sasuke and Itachi gone. Eyes widening, he got dressed and showered before stumbling downstairs.

When Naruto got down, he saw Itachi, Sasuke, and Tazuna sitting at the table—Sasuke blowing some hair out of his face, Itachi eating his morning pocky, and Tazuna reading the paper. "Yo, guys!" Naruto shouted to them as he sat down.

"Hm? Naruto, finally awake I see." Itachi said.

Naruto huffed. "Yeah, well, anyway. Where's Hina-chan and Sakura? I thought they'd be here."

They're helping Tsunami-san cook." Sasuke said.

Later, the girls emerged from the kitchen, with different dishes in their hands. As they laid them down, Naruto tried to entice Sasuke into an eating contest—but Itachi (Being the concerned brother he is) stopped them saying that he doesn't want them to throw up during training.

Naruto also noticed Tsunami head down a lone hallway with some food. A knock on the door and some incoherent words later, Tsunami left.

"Whose door is that?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, that's my sons' room. He didn't have dinner with us and I doubt he'll have breakfast—so I gave it to him anyway." She replied.

Itachi cleared his throat. "Ok, team. Head outside to the forest behind here in one hour." He said as he shunshined away.

-o-

When the genin arrived, Itachi was leaning against a tree eating pocky; he turned to the genin and waved. "Ok, team. We'll be doing chakra control exercises." He said.

Sakura spoke up. "Itachi-sensei? What kind? We already did tree walking…"

Itachi held up a leaf in his hand. "Sakura, you'll be doing tree walking while balancing a leaf on your head. Otoutous, and Hina-chan, you three will be sparring while on top of the water. Hina-chan, you'll be using your Byakugan to check their chakra, understood?"

"Wait, Itachi-sensei, how come they (points at Naruto and Hinata) get to do water walking while I'm stuck with tree walking? They should be doing this too!"

Itachi sighed. "They were trained to complete an important task since they were young. And as such, they trained non-stop since they were kids. So of course they would know chakra control exercises."

Sakura looked down, ashamed. "I see. I understand, sensei." Itachi winced a bit at her tone. He shook his head.

-o-

Meanwhile, Naruto and Sasuke where in a heated duel on top of the lake, neither side was letting up.

"**Katon: Ultra Fire Bullet!" **Sasuke shouted as he initiated his fire technique, Naruto flipped out of the way and made handseals. **"Futon: Great Breakthrough!" **A huge gust of wind blew Sasuke into the water. He resurfaced later.

"How 'bout we call off the ninjutsu and go straight into taijutsu?" Sasuke suggested as he rose onto his feet.

Naruto smirked. "My thoughts exactly."

Hinata was watching the battle with her Byakugan, just in case they needed help with their chakra control; she ignored the exhausted feeling in her gut and kept watching their deadly dance.

Naruto dodged a kick as he threw a punch to Sasuke's face, Sasuke dodged and grabed Naruto's arm and tossed him. Naruto flipped and landed on his feet as he kicked Sasuke in the back, the Uchiha turned around in time to grab it—and then proceeded to knock Naruto to the water.

As Naruto rose, Sasuke smirked. "How's that?" He declared.

Naruto put his hands up in defeat. "Ok, you win, lets go."

-o-

Naruto and company returned to Tazuna's to see Itachi and Sakura at the table.

"Yo." Itachi said, waving a piece of pocky at them. "Sit down, dinner is about ready."

Dinner was eaten in a comfortable silence until Sakura spoke up. "S-so, Sasuke-kun how was training?" She asked. Sakura noticed how Hinata gave her look, but brushed it aside.

Sasuke finished off his ball, "Training was fine, I manage to beat Naruto at taijutsu."

Naruto grunted.

Sakura gave a small smile, she knew it was going to take a long time for her team to accept her, so she decided to take it one small step at a time.

"What's the point of training, anyway? Gato will kill you all anyway!"

Team 7 and Hinata turned to see a little boy at the hallway (The one that led to a secluded room)

"So what? At least we're going to try, instead of crying like you." Sasuke said.

Inari shook his head. "Shut up! You have no idea what it's like to suffer!"

The room dropped 40 degrees as Sasuke stood up, his face hidden from view as he walked up to Inari, he grabbed him by his collar and hoisted him up, pinned him against the wall, and glared at him—Sharingan eyes spinning madly.

"Listen, punk." Sasuke started. "Don't go crying to me, saying I don't know shit about suffering. Did you have to watch as your entire family was massacre by a madman you called father? NO! Did you have to suffer years of nightmares—hearing their screams and cries of agony, over, and over? NO! So don't come whining to me about suffering!"

Itachi closed his eyes, Naruto gave him a sympathetic look, Hinata put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and looked at Sasuke. Sakura was on the verge of tears.

"Itachi-sensei, I'm going out." Sasuke said in a monotone as he dropped Inari (who ran to his room) He stalked towards the door and slammed it shut.

"W-was all of that—" Tsunami started.

"True? Yes." Itachi finished.

**End of Chap! Sorry for the delay, but I have a project to do, so I didn't have time. Next chapter, Sasuke meets Haku.**


	13. Rippling Waves, Part 1

**Yo, it's me; under the name of Dzero9 (I lost two 0's…heh.) Anyway! It's time for a two part feature! As soon as this one is up, the next one will be right behind it.**

**Naruto: So what do you thinks' gonna happen in this two part chapter?**

**Sasuke: I dunno, probably something cool, after all, I do meet Haku in this part.**

**Naruto: Meet up with whom?**

**Sasuke: -sigh- Dzero9 does not own Naruto.**

Naruto knocked on Inari's door. "Go away" came the audible reply. Naruto sighed. "You might as well open it, or I'll practice the **Camellia Dance **on it**." **

A few minuets later, Inari opened the door, eyes red and puffy from crying. Naruto looked at him. "You want to talk?"

The child wordlessly walked back in without closing the door, Naruto followed in and sat on the bed next to him. He noticed a picture on the night stand. "Your father?" Naruto asked.

Inari's eyes watered as he nodded. "W-was it true?" He asked, looking at the older blond. "Th-that what the other boy said?"

Naruto glanced at him and stared out the window. "Sasuke? Yeah, it's all true. I can't tell you the details, but Sasuke went through some serious trauma as a child. He watched as his clan of hundreds gets slaughtered right before his eyes. If it weren't for me, his brother, and the rest of us, his mental state would've cracked."

Inari's eyes widened. "How could he live through all that?" Naruto chuckled. Inari looked down for a moment and looked back up. "What about you? You smile and laugh a lot more than he does."

Naruto looked at the full moon. "Well, for reasons I can't tell you, I was hated by all of Konoha, except a small few. They treated me like scum, and trash. Whenever my father left for a mission, they use that time to ransack our home and try to hurt me. Sasuke and I, we both had to grow up--far before our time, because of hatred, jealousy, anger, and prejudice."

Inari stared wide eyed at him. He looked at the picture of his father. _Maybe it's about time I should grow up._ Inari turned to Naruto and smiled. "Thanks, I feel a bit better now." Inari said.

Naruto got up to leave before turning back to the boy. "Good Night."

"Good Night…Naruto-niichan."

Sasuke woke up, his grogginess preventing him from moving. _Ugh, I went overboard._ Sasuke shook off his sleepiness. "It's about time you woke up." Came a beautiful voice.

The young Uchiha turned to see a beautiful girl, with long black hair with chocolate eyes, creamy skin, and curves to die for. She was wearing a pink Kimono.

Sasuke picked his jaw off the ground and shook himself out of his stupor (though his blush was still evident.) "Uh, h-hi, what brings you around these parts, miss?" He asked.

The girl giggled. "Oh, I'm just collecting herbs. And by the way, I'm a boy." Sasuke's eyes widened. "Just kidding!" Sasuke glared at her playfully, the girl giggled some more.

"Anyway, I should introduce myself. I'm Sasuke Uchiha."

"Haku." Was her reply.

"That's a nice name." Sasuke commented, Haku blushed a bit. "So, do you need help collecting herbs? Just tell me what kind and I'll get them for you."

Haku nodded. "Okay, sure." She said with a smile, which caused Sasuke to look away with a blush.

…As they collected herbs, Haku turned to Sasuke. "So, are you a ninja? I noticed some people with those headbands in the past." She asked.

Sasuke nodded. "Yup, I'm on a mission right now, in fact." He started. "My sensei—my older brother accepted a C-rank from the Hokage. But it turns out to be an A-rank."

"Really? Is an A-rank, like, a big mission or something?" Haku asked.

"Yeah, right below S-rank…There." Sasuke handed some herbs to Haku; she took them and put them in her bag.

"Arigatou, Sasuke-kun."

"It's alright; after all, Zabuza does need to be in top shape to face brother."

Haku tensed. "Wh-what are you talking about? Wh-who's this Zabuza?"

Sasuke frowned. "Please don't lie. I had my suspicions, but they were confirmed on a few occasions. One: The way you carried yourself, only a kunoichi-trained woman walks like that—except Sakura. Two: The herbs you had in your bag were the kind to treat wounds, burn wounds—wounds from a **Clone Jutsu: Super Explosion, **and **Jyuken **based attacks. Three: You asked me if I was a ninja, most civilians don't care, as if they were to know about a certain ninja, it could spell trouble."

Haku lowered. "You…know a lot, do you?"

Sasuke gave her the Uchiha smirk. "When your dad is **Konoha no Yoko **you learn a lot."

Haku's eyes widened. "I see…Now that you know who I am; I will be forced to defend myself." She got into a battle stance.

"Wait, no, I don't want to fight!" Sasuke said. "I just want to learn more about you, I have a lot of questions to ask you."

Haku eyed him suspiciously, set her basket down. "Ok, what do you wish to ask?" She said.

Sasuke got to the point. "Why are you working with Zabuza?"

Haku chuckled, straight to the point, she liked that. "Zabuza-sama trained me; I am his tool, ever since he rescued me."

Sasuke was intrigued. "Continue?" he asked.

"Okay." Haku sat down next to him, Sasuke shifted uncomfortably.

"I used to live in Kirigakure no Sato with my mother and father. My father was a farmer while my mother was a stay-at-home mom. One fateful day, I activated my Kekkei Genkai, Hyouton. I showed my mom a bird I made using my blood limit. She immediately slapped me, I never saw her so upset, and she yelled at me to never use it again…Too bad my dad saw it. My dad threw into rage and gathered up some other farmers; they killed my mother right in front of me. My father looked at me in disgust, he was about to swing his axe until I used my kekkei genkai at the last minute, killing them all. I then wondered the cold streets of Kiri. Until I met Zabuza-sama, he gave me a purpose in life. I was so happy. I then swore my life to him, that I was his tool to be used as he sees fit, nothing more, nothing less…"

"Bullshit!" Sasuke said standing up. "Listen to me, you are NOT a tool! You're a human being, you have feelings, emotions, and you said them yourself! Why, Haku, why do you see yourself as a tool?"

Haku looked dead at him. "Because Zabuza-sama is my precious person! I'll do anything to protect him!" Sasuke looked at her with the look of pity. "Does being a tool have anything to do with protecting a special person?"

The silence was awkward before Sasuke sat back down. "Ok, you've told your story, time to tell mine. Care to listen?" Haku nodded and sat next to him again.

"It starts when I was still in ninja academy. I came from a prestigious clan in the Leaf Village, the Uchiha clan. We were treated like gods for our kekkei genkai, the Sharingan. Even still, I lived a normal life; I had a caring mother, a brother who I wanted to surpass, and a best friend who I wanted to be more like. Well, I can't say my life is all that normal; I got chased around in the academy by rabid fangirls and the occasional fanboy, -sigh- such the life of bi-shonen. Anyway, it was a cloudy day when my brother Itachi came to pick me up from the academy. When we walked to the Uchiha clan compound, it was devoid of life, corpses of my fellow men lying on the ground motionless." Sasuke began to shake. "We stalked in further, until I heard my mother scream. I ran to my home to see my mom there, lying face down in a pool of her own blood…" Tears fell from Sasuke's face as he gritted his teeth. "The killer…the man who did this, all because the Uchiha clan stepped out of what could've been a civil war was Fugaku Uchiha…my father."

Sasuke wiped his tears. "Sorry…for yelling at you like that." He said, turning to Haku. "Its okay, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke blushed. "Um…When it comes down to it, can you convince Zabuza to join Konoha?" Haku stared at him. "Well, it's just that, do you _really _think a man like Gatou will actually pay you and Zabuza?" Haku stopped to think. "You may be right; I'll talk to Zabuza-sama about it. Okay?"

Sasuke stood up. "Right, well, I'll see you later…Haku-chan."

Sasuke didn't get to see Haku's blush.

It was noon when Sasuke came back, everyone asked where he was, Sasuke said he was venting out some frustration and dozed off. Sasuke also request a team meeting, Itachi granted it to him.

"Ok, you guys you won't believe this but…I met the hunter Nin who 'killed' Zabuza."

Everyone's eyes widened. "Really? Tell us more!" Naruto asked, getting impatient.

"Ok, her name is Haku, she's a girl with a traumatizing past, she met Zabuza afterwards and she vowed her life to him. She thinks of herself as a 'tool' for Zabuza. I met her when she was collecting herbs to cure Zabuza, naturally I helped—just to get the information I needed."

Everyone nodded in understanding. "Anything else, Sasuke?" Itachi asked.

"Well, also, I...er…asked Haku-chan to convince Zabuza to join Konoha." Sasuke said. A collective 'WHAT!?' sounded off.

"Sasuke! …That's not a bad idea." Itachi said.

"Cool, but do think that Zabuza will do it?" Naruto asked.

"I think they might, I have a feeling Gatou might trick Zabuza." Came Hinata's voice.

"Haku-chan? HAKU-CHAN!?" Guess who.

Everyone turned their gaze to Sasuke. "So…Haku-chan, hmmm?" Itachi teased. Sasuke blushed. "Aww, who asked you?!" He said as he stormed off downstairs.

"So…Itachi, are you gonna ask Ayame out? She totally digs you." Naruto jabbed. Itachi blushed and followed suit.

"Ah…It must be an Uchiha thing."

The next morning, they made their way to the bridge (Minus Naruto). Tazuna's eyes widened, all of the builders were unconscious, and what's more, a sinister laugh.

"Zabuza…" Itachi muttered, He and Sasuke activated their Sharingans; Hinata activated her Byakugan, while Sakura just drew a kunai.

Zabuza appeared in front of them. His Kubikiri Houcho lazily slung over his shoulders. "So…I take it you know about the proposition?" Itachi asked.

Zabuza laughed. "Yep, but I still want to fight you though, I won't join a village full of weak shinobi!"

Thus the battle on the bridge begins…

**Hot damn, do you know what time is it? It's 12:40 A.M. over here! I'm going to sleep; next part will be up during the day. Oh, and check my profile, I got some new stuff.**

**Dzero9, out!**


	14. Rippling Waves, Part 2

**Hey, hey, hey! It's time for part 2! Are you ready? Let's rock!!!!**

**I don't Own Naruto!**

Steel, clanging against steel, rang out through the bridge. Itachi slashed vertically with a kunai, Zabuza swung his blade, knocking the kunai out of Itachi's hand.

Itachi filliped backwards, and made an all too familiar hand seal. **"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" **Two Itachi's appeared, each hold his Anbu sword. The charged forward. "**Crescent Moon Dance!" **All three Itachi's sliced Zabuza down…

On the other side of the bridge, Sasuke and Hinata were engaged in a fight with Haku, It had dragged on to the paint where Haku grew restless. "Please forgive me." Haku said, with a touch of pain in her voice. "But its all for Zabuza-sama, **Hyouton: Crystal Ice Mirrors!"**

------------------------------

A little bit before this happened, Naruto was sleeping peacefully when he heard the front door swing off its hinges. He jolted awake. "Uh-oh," He said, He got dressed and ran downstairs.

To samurai grinned manically. "This is too easy." One said.

Inari spread his hand out defensively in front of his fallen mother. "Leave my mom alone, you jerks!"

The other Samurai laughed. "Heh, this kid thinks he can defend his mommy, eh? Too bad." He brought his sword down, Inari closed his eyes...But the pain never came. He heard some punches, kicks, and grunts until it all subsided with two thuds. The boy looked up to see the thugs, Hog-tied, by…

"Naruto-niichan!" Inari said, Naruto grinned. "What's up?" Tears began to form in Inari's eyes, Naruto crouched down. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Inari sniffed. "I couldn't protect my mom…"

"Yes you did! You did a great job, you stood up to those thugs; I'm proud of you, kid." Naruto said. Inari wiped away his tears. "Now, where did my team go?" He asked, looking around."

"They went to the bridge." Tsunami said, standing up.

"Dammit, I'd better go!

------------------------------

Itachi flipped backwards as he dodged another swing from Zabuza's massive sword. Zabuza swung diagonally, but Itachi dodged in time, the sword hit the bridge, and Itachi stuck his ANBU Katana in the word's hole, keeping it from moving, he then punched Zabuza—hard.

The Demon of the Mist stumbled back. "Gah never expected someone like you to take such cheap shots."

Itachi smirked. "There are no cheap shots in the world of the Shinobi."

The two jumped back and engaged into a Taijutsu fight, Itachi swung at Zabuza with a left hook, Zabuza blocked and punched Itachi in the chest, Itachi absorbed the blow and kicked the nuke-nin in the face, Zabuza clutched his face as he grabbed Itachi's foot and swung him to the ground. 'Itachi' proceeded to explode on impact.

Zabuza jumped from the smoke, he noticed Itachi staring at him with his Sharingan eyes. Zabuza snarled. **"**Damn you, **Suiton: Great Waterfall Basin!**"

A huge torrent of water came spinning Itachi's way, His eyes widened. 'Damn! If I were to dodge, Tazuna would suffer the hit two…! That's it!' Itachi flashed through hand seals. "**Doton: Mud Wall!!" **Mud came from Itachi's mouth as it formed a wall in front of him; the Waterfall Basin was destroyed on impact. Itachi breathed a sigh of relief.

Naruto shunshined behind Itachi. "Itachi-sensei!"

Itachi turned to Naruto. "Glad you could join us." He said sarcastically. "Go help Sasuke and Hinata; I'm pretty sure they are doing worse than I am."

Naruto nodded and shunshined away.

------------------------------

Sasuke and Hinata were barely keeping up with Haku's ice mirrors. Hinata had needles coming out of her, her Byakugan was little help, and she had a small trickle of blood coming from her mouth. Sasuke was a lot better off. With his Sharingan, he could read Haku's moves with ease. He had only one senbon in his shoulder.

Haku wordlessly threw a volley of senbon, aiming at Hinata, Sasuke was too far away. "Hinata! Move!!!"

"**Bracken Dance!!"**

A horde of what looked to be bones appeared around Hinata, blocking off the senbon, the bones receded to the ground. Hinata and Sasuke turned to see who pulled this off.

"Naruto?"

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto appeared within the ice dome, He smirked. "Yo." He said. He noticed Hinata's condition and stopped smirking, "Hina-chan!" He said as he ran over to her. Hinata's legs gave way as she fell, only to be caught by Naruto. "Hina-chan…"

"I'm fine, Naruto-kun." Hinata reassured. "Just a little tired, that's all…"

"Ok, I'm getting you out of here. Hold on tight." Naruto made some seals and Shunshined away.

They appeared on another part of the bridge. "Shouldn't we be with Sakura?" Hinata asked as he set her down.

Naruto shrugged. "What good could you do in your condition?" He asked. Hinata slowly nodded, knowing he was right. "Ok, but be careful, Naruto-kun…I wouldn't know what I do if something were to happen to you." She finished with a blush. Naruto looked puzzled, but still smiled. "I'll be fine, you worry too much. Well, I'd better go save Sasuke from his girlfriend."

Naruto appeared next to Sasuke in a poof of smoke. "What took you!?" Sasuke half yelled.

"Oh, come on, you know you just wanted to spend time with your girlfriend." Naruto said with a shrug.

Meanwhile Haku was contemplating on the boy who entered the fray. 'That jutsu…Is he a Kaguya? But I thought they all died, save for that one boy we met a few years back…I'd better finish this, I'm almost out of chakra.'

"Hey Sasuke."

"What?"

"What's the common trait all ninjutsu share?"

"They all waste chakra."

"Yup, and Haku's running out, look."

Sasuke looked to see the Ice Mirrors slowly melt. Sasuke smirked. "So, Naruto. How 'bout it? Fireball and Whirlwind fist?"

"Oh, yes."

Haku's eyes widened behind her mask as Sasuke and Naruto flashed through hand seals.

"**Katon: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"**

"**Futon: Whirlwind Fist!"**

Sasuke blew a huge fireball from his mouth, Naruto the arched his fist back as a whirlwind form from his punch, the fireball was intensified by the Whirlwind Fist,

And decimated part of the Ice dome.

Naruto and Sasuke watched in amazement as the combined jutsu's destroyed the Ice dome. Haku appeared across from the two, her mask fell off her face, and he clothes were slightly singed. She smiled to them before she fell backwards. Sasuke caught her in time, and set her down gently. "Chakra exhaustion. She's gonna be fine." He said.

Zabuza was mortified; he lost a fight between some jonin not even in his twenties! Itachi walked up to Zabuza and pointed his ANBU sword at him. "This fight is over." He said, pulling out some strawberry pokey, and taking a bite out of it.

"How pathetic, the demon of the mist, beaten by some teenager. And your whore isn't doing so well either. Oh well, at least we get a consolation."

Zabuza, Itachi, Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, and Tazuna turned to see a short old man, with his hair going thousands of directions. He wore a cheap business suit, and a sneer that could make you sick. He had a horde of thugs, samurai, nuke-nin alike. And one of those men held a certain some.

Naruto's eye widened. "HINATA!!!" He shouted.

Hinata, who had her hands tied behind her back, and held up by one of Gatou's thugs.

"Naruto-kun!" She screamed.

"Let her go!" Naruto shouted.

Gatou laughed evilly. "I think not, after my men kill you all, I'm going to take her with me. She'll make excellent entertainment."

Naruto was beyond pissed, he was furious. Red chakra erupted from Naruto's body. His nails became claws, his teeth longed into fangs, his eyes became blood red, and his whisker marks became more rigid. What was more, a white mass materialized into a half fox-like mask on the side of his face.

"You, filth! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!!!"

Gatou took a step back. "What are you waiting for?" He asked one of the samurai. "Kill him!"

They all charged after him, Naruto struck down the one's in his way, without remorse. Itachi and Zabuza, who joined the fight, took out any thug who came their way.

Naruto sliced his way to Gatou, who had Hinata on the ground next to him. The business Tycoon stepped back in fear. "P-p-please! Don't! I'll do whatever you want! Take the girl back, take all my money too!"

Naruto stalked up to him and exhaled in his face, Gatou soiled him self. "Fool. For your crimes against wave, and its entire people. For threatening my precious person, you're future is…DEATH!!" Naruto sliced Gatou's left arm off. Hinata watched in horror as the boy she secretly loved _laughed _As Gatou screamed, his arm on the ground. Tears welled up in her lavender orbs. _Naruto-kun…stop this…please. _

Naruto then kicked Gatou down the bridge. He continued to walk up to him. Hinata whimpered as Naruto flashed before her, back when they became genin, to when they were in the academy, when they first met. Hinata slipped her hands out of the rope, and ran after Naruto. She caught up to him. "NARUTO-KUN!!"

Naruto turned to see Hinata in tears. His eyes widened. "Hinata…" She stopped and hugged him tightly, tears freely rolling down her face. "Please, Naruto-kun. Don't do this, don't become what the villagers say you are. This isn't you, this isn't the boy I fell in love with."

Naruto's eyes widened, did he hear right? She _loved_ him? Naruto's demonic features vanished, his half-mask shattered to pieces. He looked at the carnage around him, then at Gatou's now dead body, dead from loss of blood.

Hinata continued to cry in Naruto's bare chest. "Hinata…Come on now, it's ok…"

Naruto looked to see Sasuke—carrying a now conscious Haku, Itachi, Sakura, and Tazuna. They all circled Naruto and Hinata, Naruto also saw the villagers all lead by Inari, in the distance.

Hinata eventually cried herself to sleep in Naruto's arms as snow fell upon the village…

------------------------------

**A/N: Ahh…Another good chapter done! Woo! Ok, I'm going to sleep, Good Night 'Yawl!**

**Oh, If you want to make fanart…Send it to me in a PM, I'll feature them on my profile page!**


	15. Going Home

**Yo! I'm back again with a new chapter of Son of the Kyuubi. Please vote for the poll on my profile! I only have seven voters so far! That ain't enough**

**Also I'll be putting up a new poll next week, so here is the preview:**

**Who should Kimimaro get paired with?**

**Temari**

**Kin**

**Tayuya**

**Sakura**

**Tenten**

**Karin**

**Hana**

**Hanabi**

**(I'm secretly voting for Temari XD )**

**I don't own Naruto!**

**----------------**

_What's happening?_

…_Why did I do it?_

_The thugs are dead, Gatou is dead…_

_Wave is safe, and so is…_

_Hinata!_

Naruto snapped awake, he found himself in ankle deep water, and what's more, A cage with the kanji for 'seal' on it.

Naruto looked around. "I haven't been here in a while." He said. He turned to the cage.

"Dad, dad! You there?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm here…" Came the reply.

Naruto looked to see Yokoumaru emerge from the darkness of the cage. His jounin vest was gone and so were his gloves.

Naruto's eyes widened. "Dad? What happened to you?"

Yokoumaru scratched his nose. "Nothin' in a days work for Konoha no Yoko!"

Naruto grinned "so, I suppose your mission was a success?"

"Yup." His face grew more solemn "Although Kurenai was badly hurt. And Kakashi passed out due to chakra exhaustion."

Naruto sighed. "I see, well. My mission was a success. Although I went nine-tails on Gatou and his goons."

Yokoumaru crossed his arms. "I see, so that's why a feeling of anger wiped over me 2 days ago…"

Naruto's eyes widened "TWO DAYS? I'VE BEEN SLEEP FOR TWO DAYS!!?"

The demon lord cleaned his ears. "Yeah…Whatever. Also, did you notice anything strange when you used my chakra?"

Naruto cocked an eyebrow. "Hah?"

Yokoumaru sighed. "Never mind, just hurry up and wake up. See you at home."

Before Naruto regained consciousness he shouted. "See ya later dad!"

----------------

Hinata hadn't left Naruto's side since they returned from the bridge, she felt bad that Naruto had to use that weird chakra to save her, and even worse when he had to kill to do so.

Hinata was mused out of her thoughts when she heard a soft groan. Her eyes watered when Naruto's eyes slowly opened. The blond Kaguya turned his head to her and smiled weakly. "Hey Hina-chan? Why are you crying for?"

Tears flowed freely from Hinata's eyes as she gave Naruto a bone crushing hug. "Naruto-kun! You're okay! My Naruto-kun…" Naruto blushed and returned the hug.

The door swung open and Itachi, Sasuke, Haku, Zabuza, and Tazuna, rushed in. They were greeted by the sight of Naruto and Hinata in a hug, Itachi coughed to get there attention; they blushed and separated.

Itachi smiled. "Glad to see you awake, Naruto." He said.

"Naruto you've been out for two days! What happened?" Sasuke asked--voice full of worry.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Gee, I don't really know."

Zabuza shook his head. "Well, it's great to see you up, gaki."

Naruto looked up at him. "So, are you gonna accept our proposition?"

Haku smiled. "Yes, we'll be leaving after you get ready."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Yikes! I guess I'd better get ready!"

They all proceeded to leave the room, Hinata was about to shut the door when Naruto spoke up. "Umm, Hina-chan?"

Hinata turned her head to him. "Yes?"

Naruto smiled. "After we get back to Konoha, wanna go on…a date?"

Hinata's heart soared. He was asking her on a date? She couldn't think clearly. "Y-yes…" Was all she said as she left the room.

Team 7 plus Zabuza, Haku and Hinata was out side of the village, saying good bye to everyone. Naruto noticed that Inari was crying. "Hmm? Why are you crying?" He asked.

Inari sobbed even more. "I-I'm so happy that you guys did this for us, e-even after what I said…And I'm even more sad that you'll be leaving"

Naruto smiled. "Hey, don't worry. I'll be back sometime you hear? So get strong, and protect your family."

Inari wiped his tears and nodded.

Tazuna waved to them. "See you guys!"

Naruto and the others waved back. "Bye!"

As Tazuna's family watched their retreating figure, Tazuna spoke up. "You know, this bridge needs a name. How about the 'Super Great Tazuna Bridge'."

Tsunami slapped her father's arm. "Father…" Tazuna just laughed.

"How about the 'Great Naruto Bridge'?" Inari spoke up.

Tazuna nodded sagely. "Yeah…I like that name."

------------

The trip back to Konoha was quite a turn than there trip to Wave. Naruto and Hinata would exchange glances and blush, Sasuke and Haku would talk animatedly, Zabuza and Itachi would have a heated discussion on various flavors of pocky, and Sakura would glare at Haku and growl whenever she called Sasuke 'Sasuke-kun'. She was torn from her thoughts when everyone came to a pause. She was about to ask what was going until Itachi stepped forward.

When Itachi stepped forward. A plume of smoke appeared, out of the smoke was a figure about Itachi's height, he wore a black robe with red clouds. And also he wore a ring on his finger, and a hat to conceal his identity. He wordlessly handed Itachi a scroll. "Give this to Sarutobi, and have him tell that clan head." He stated, as to not give anything away. He then vanished in a plume of smoke.

Itachi's eyes widened. He knew who that person was, his shock turned to smirk, and then he chuckled. Naruto was confused. "Itachi-nii. Who was that?"

Itachi turned to him and chuckled some more. "An old friend, an old friend…"

------------

When they reached Konoha, the gate keepers, Kotetsu and Izumo went wide eyed at the amount of people traveling with team 7. Itachi signaled to them. "We'll need to go to the Hokage's office." He said, He turned to Sasuke and Naruto. "Otoutos, come with us, Hinata and Sakura, get some rest." With that said everyone except Sakura and Hinata shunshined away.

------------

At the Hokage's office….

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a long smoke of his pipe and exhaled deeply. "Ok, First off, you're mission turned out to be A-ranked, so you'll receive A-rank payment when Wave get back on its feet. And second, since Zabuza is a missing-nin, he won't be instated as a leaf-nin until after 60 day probation (Zabuza groaned). However, Haku will be instated at the end of the week, since she never was a ninja in the first place. (Haku and Sasuke smiled at each other). You are all dismissed except for Itachi."

After everyone left. Sarutobi's face grew serious. "Ok, show me the scroll." Itachi nodded and handed him the scroll. Sarutobi scanned it for any traps, seeing that there is none—he opened it, and inside it was a simple sentence.

_I'm coming home._

------------

"So, Naruto." Sasuke said to Naruto, as they were on their way home.

"Hmm?" He asked.

"I noticed you and Hinata were blushing quite frequently on the way home, anything going on?" He asked with a smirk.

Naruto's face flushed. "W-well it's nothing big I just kinda asked Hinata out on a date."

Sasuke smirked. "It's about damn time." He said.

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked, confused.

Sasuke pointed at him. "C'mon, it was obvious you two liked each other, since the first time she kissed you a few years ago, and when you kissed her again before we left with Itachi-nii."

Naruto blushed. "Oh, c'mon! She was just showing me her gratitude, and I only kissed her to make Kiba-teme jealous!"

Sasuke didn't buy it. "Suuurre…"

Unbeknownst to the both of them, someone overheard their conversation, and ran the other way in tears.

------------

_Rice Country_

A group of people were seen in a dense forest, they were on their way to Konoha to enter the chunin exams. One of the people started coughing, his coughing turned into a coughing fit. A man with glasses gave him some pills. He swallowed them and the coughing subsided. "Thanks, Kabuto." He said.

Kabuto shook his head. "Are you sure you want to go through with this? You don't need to prove yourself in front of Orochimaru-sama anymore, he's found a new vessel in the leaf Village.

The sickly man nodded. "I know, but this isn't about Orochimaru-sama, I want to go there for my own personal reasons."

Kabuto sighed. "Well here take this." He handed him a bottle of pills. "When the coughing starts, take one of these, but if you don't though and the coughing gets worse, you're body will lock up again. Also, don't use your curse seal, understand Kimimaro?"

Kimimaro nodded. "Yes." Kabuto handed him the bottle. "Ok, let's keep moving." He said to the others. Kimimaro kept up with their pace. _Soon, my bother, soon…_

------------

**Ok, end of this chapter! Sorry for the lack of action as this was mostly filler. But a lot of questions have been raised:**

**Who did Kyuubi/Yokoumaru Fight?**

**Who is the mystery person?**

**Who overheard the conversation between Naruto and Sasuke?**

**And what will Kimimaro do once he gets to Konoha?**

**All that will be answered soon, on the next installment of: Son of the Kyuubi! –plays catchy jingle-**


	16. A day for Itachi

**Yo, I'm back with a new chapter of Son of the Kyuubi! Just to let you know this will be my last chapter for the year so, sit back and enjoy. But Wait—let me tell you that this chapter is Itachi-centric so rejoice Itachi fans!**

**I'll never own Naruto at this rate…**

**------------**

Ino ran. All she could do is run, after what she heard; her heart was broken in two. Naruto-kun had asked that bitch Hinata out on a date. It's over. She'll never win her Naruto-kun. Ino was in an unknown forest as she continued to cry. That is, until she stopped abruptly. A few moments of silence as she then started…laughing. Her laughs were empty; they continued to ring out into the setting sky…

------------

(Itachi-centric starts…now!)

Itachi woke up at his usual time of 5:30, mumbling about stupid alarm clocks as he got out of bed, dressed in blue pajama tops and bottoms (with the Uchiha fan decorating the night-wear), with comical weasel slippers. Itachi opened his dresser to pick out his clothes for the day—since he was on leave for the rest of the week, and went into his personal shower.

It was 6:00 when he left his room for some breakfast He was wearing a black t-shirt with the Uchiha fan on the back and some matching pants, he also had his necklace on still. He went go the kitchen for some of his favorite breakfast; that's when he noticed the sticky-note on the pantry:

_Heh, we're out of Munchie-O's and toaster waffles. So get breakfast somewhere else!_

_-Yokoumaru_

Itachi rubbed his temples. _Damn those otoutos of mine, I swear there training will be increased ten-fold for this…_ He thought for a moment when he remembered something Ayame-chan said to him:

-Dzero9-ton: Flashback Jutsu!-

_Itachi was enjoying their new 'pocky' flavored ramen at Ichiraku ramen. He left a Shadow Clone to monitor his genin while they chased after Tora again. The jonin finished off his 4__th__ both when Ayame walked up to him from behind the counter._

"_Wow, four bowls already? You must really like Pocky flavored ramen, Itachi-kun." Ayame said, getting his attention._

_Itachi looked up and swallowed his ramen. "Yes. It is quite delicious." Itachi said as he continued inhaling his ramen._

_Ayame giggled. "Well, I made it special just for you." She said with a wink; which made Itachi's face flush. He continued eating until his last bowl was done; He stood up; put his money on the table._

"_Arigatou for the Ramen, Ayame-chan." Itachi said. He turned to leave but stopped when Ayame called out to him._

"_Try our breakfast ramen sometime!!"_

-Flashback Jutsu: Release!-

Itachi smirked. "Munchie-O's or no, I'm still going to have breakfast." He said decisively.

------------

As Itachi walked through the streets of Konoha, he couldn't help but notice how different it was during the day. There were few people out and the ones who are out are still dazed from sleep. He also noticed some shinobi jumping to and from the Hokage tower. Itachi looked forward to the see the rising sun; it was beautiful in Itachi's eyes. He hopped onto one the nearby establishments, Itachi just watched as the morning sun rose over the horizon. He stayed there for a few moments until a scent snapped him from his thoughts. _It smells like…Ramen! _ He sped off in the direction of the ramen.

Ayame Ichiraku was yawing repeatedly as she prepared the broth for this morning's ramen. She tried to rub the sleep from he eyes but with no avail. She yawned again and stretched. _Tou-san just HAD to get sick today. Sometimes I…_

"Ayame-chan?" the teenager squeaked in surprise, she turned to Itachi sitting down across the counter, with his own personal chopsticks with him. (The chopsticks were just plain blue). Ayame could only stare for a moment. It was the first time she seen his without the jonin outfit on, and she must say—It made him more attractive. (Not that he wasn't already) Itachi noticed she was ogling him and leaned forward and waved his hand in front of her face. "Anoo…Ayame-chan?"

Ayame was torn from her thoughts and her face became red when Itachi tried to snap her out of it. She fumbled over her self and scratched the back of her head nervously, sleep long forgotten. "O-Oh, Itachi-kun! Sorry about that, I-I was just a little tired…so! What will it be?" She asked, in her usual cheery mood.

"Hmm…What do you recommend?" He asked.

"Well, we so far have four different kinds of breakfast ramen. One is to help you wake up in the morning, the other gives you energy to last through the day, and the last one is nutritiously balanced." She said.

"Sounds interesting, I'll take the balanced ramen, please."

"Coming right up!" She said as she bounded off to prepare his meal.

Itachi smirked. He then was in deep thought, thinking about what he going to do. _I…Have to ask her when I'm done; it may be the only chance I get…_ He thought. He leaned to the side of his chair to see Ayame busy making his ramen. His drifted down, and down until his eyes made contact with her ass. His eyes were glued there until he realized what he was doing; He blushed and sat back up, perfectly still. _Itachi you dumbass! Bad Itachi, bad! _

While the Uchiha survivor was mentally berating himself, Ayame slid the bowl of ramen under his nose; he immediately shut off his thoughts as he took a whiff of the breakfast ramen. "Smells good." He said.

Ayame giggled. "Go on, try it!" She said. Itachi nodded as he simply dug in—albeit, with a dignified manner.

When he was done, he was back in his thoughts. _It's now or never…_ He thought, Ayame later emerged from behind the counter, "so, was it good?" Ayame asked, with a hint of worry in her voice. It was the first time she cooked without her fathers' supervision, she was pretty nervous.

Itachi stood. "…It was most enjoyable. I'll definitely make this my new spot for breakfast." Itachi said with a smile.

Ayame was overjoyed, so overjoyed in fact the she leaped from behind the counter, and gave Itachi a bear hug, "Itachi-kun! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou thank you!" she shouted. The only thing Itachi did was hug her back. "You're welcome." He said as he looked into her coal black orbs.

They continued to gaze upon each other until Itachi brought up the question. "Ayame-chan…I was wondering…If it's not too much trouble, would you like…to go out with me to dinner?"

Ayame blushed as her heart kept beating faster and faster. Did she just hear right? Itachi _Uchiha _asked _her_, a civilian girl, out on a date? Ayame couldn't think straight. All she could do was say one word.

"No…"

Itachi's eyes saddened.

"…I'd LOVE to go out with you!" She exclaimed as she hugged Itachi tighter. Itachi mentally sighed in relief. He then began to wander what his biological father would think if he caught him dating a civilian girl.

Itachi shook off his thoughts. "…How about 8 o'clock tonight, by the lake, where the Sakura trees are in full bloom." He said. Ayame could only nod. "Good, now you might wanna get off now, where attracting attention…"

Ayame looked around and saw several people staring at her in awe, disbelief, and jealousy (from the kunoichi population). She blushed and let go of him. "Ok, I'll see you tonight; don't forget to pick me up now!"

Itachi waved at her. _I won't…_

-----------

As Itachi walked home, he let his mind wonder again, he then had a worried expression form on his face. What would the village think of him going out with a civilian girl? What would the shinobi and kunoichi think? Itachi couldn't get this feeling from the bottom of his gut that something bad might happen….

When he entered his home, he noticed Yokoumaru was not there. _He must at the hospital still. He seemed kind of anxious after that mission. Something must've happened to shake up the King of all Biju._

When he reached the kitchen he saw Naruto and Sasuke still in their pajamas (Naruto wearing his pre-time skip canon pajamas. And Sasuke with an identical set.) Eating leftovers from dinner. Itachi decided to break the news. "Hey otoutos, I have something to tell you."

The both looked up, curious. "I asked Ayame-chan out!"

Silence…

Until they both shouted "ABOUT TIME!!"

Itachi was getting irked by that little outburst. "And what do you mean by that?"

Naruto pointed a chopstick at him. "I told you on the wave mission, Ayame digs you! …Or did you forget?"

Then Sasuke decided to add his two cents in. "Yeah, anyone with a brain can see the attraction between you two."

Itachi scowled. "Well, whatever. Inform Sakura of our training session at 12:30. Sasuke, you should show Haku and Zabuza around town. Naruto, tou-sama wanted to talk to you about something. Stay here until he gets back." Itachi turned around and Body Flickered away.

------------

It was 12:28 and Itachi was at the training grounds. He kneeled over to the pond and stared at his reflection. He then proceeded to activate his sharingan. His left eye tomoe fused together and formed the Mangekyou. He stared at it for awhile until he felt a stinging sensation; he deactivated it, and sighed.

Itachi stood up and turned to his genin. "Are you ready for your training?"

The all nodded. "Ok, Sakura, you need to work on your taijutsu and chakra capacity. To be blunt: It's pathetic. You and Sasuke will train in taijutsu on top of the lake. Naruto, do you have the scroll Yokoumaru gave you?" Naruto nodded and held up the scroll. "Good, Here, take this." Itachi dug into his pocket and tossed him a…water balloon?

Naruto was confused. "Wait a sec…what's this for?" he asked.

Itachi smirked. "The first step in learning an A-rank jutsu."

The genin's eyes widened. "An a-rank jutsu? No way!" Sakura commented.

"Yes way. And Sasuke, after your sparring session. I'm going to give the Family Summon Scroll. And Sakura, I'm going to have to find 'Outside Help', since my genjutsu can be only utilized by my Sharingan and Summon contract."

Itachi looked at their reactions. Naruto was drooling; Sasuke had stars in his eyes, and s

Sakura looked downtrodden. Itachi felt a pang of guilt. "Sakura, there _is _one genjutsu I can show you." Sakura's face brightened.

She then thought for a moment. "Why are you doing this? Isn't this a bit too…much?"

Itachi crossed his arms. "Well, I'm entering you three for the chunin exams next month. I need you three to be at the top of your game."

"You serious? The chunin exams?" Sasuke asked.

"Yup, that means once you get promoted, I won't be your sensei anymore _YES!!!_" Itachi said/thought. "But anyway, enough talk. Start training!"

------------

Team 7's training ended that day at sunset. The genin left utterly exhausted. Itachi chuckled. "Maybe I went too far…"

Itachi proceeded to go to Ichiraku to see Ayame before the date. When Itachi walked he noticed no one was here except the girl in question. With a depressed look on her face. "Ayame-chan, dooshita?" he asked.

Ayame looked up at him. "Oh, Itachi-kun…hey."

Itachi sat down. "You look upset. What's going on?"

The ramen girls' eyes watered. "Some kunoichi came in a few hours earlier, the insulted me and spat the food I gave them in my face, they called me the 'Uchiha-whore'."

Itachi was pissed, but did not show it. _Damn it, I knew something like this happened. Maybe I should…_

"—But I still want to go out with you, Itachi-kun!" She exclaimed, wiping away her eyes.

"But, Ayame-chan. What about—"

"I'll just have to be stronger!" Ayame said, eyes full of determination.

Itachi smirked. "Yeah."

------------

It was finally the time of the date. Itachi had already set up everything at the lake. He wore a black kimono with the Uchiha fan on the front. He also had a hidden kunai tucked away—just to be safe.

He made his way to the Ichiraku house and knocked on the door. Moments later a sickly Teuchi answered the door. "Teuchi-san." Itachi said with a bow.

Teuchi looked at him up and down. "Hmm, you don't seem like the type of person who would break my daughters' heart—but I'm watching you!" He threatened. Itachi just sweat dropped.

"Father, scaring Itachi-kun won't work; he is a ninja you know." A voice said. Itachi looked over the old mans shoulder to only have his jaw drop. Ayame emerged from the stairs wearing a skin tight black dress that showed off her curves, she was also wearing a necklace with a purple jewel on it.

Itachi picked his jaw up as the teenage girl walked up next to her father (who later left). Itachi straightened up. "Uhh, er… Y-you look…beautiful."

Ayame giggled at his nervousness. "You look quite handsome, Itachi-kun."

She then offered her hand. "I'm ready to go." Itachi nodded and took it. She squeaked as her brought her close to him as he made a hand seal and vanished in a swirl of leaves.

The two arrived at the lake via body flicker, Ayame shivered after reappearing. Itachi scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, that will get some getting used to." He said nervously.

Ayame smiled. "I'm fine." She let go of him and looked around. The moonlight reflected off the sakura petals, Itachi walked up to her. "Let's go downstream, there's a bridge there."

"And can we walk this time?" Ayame asked. The jonin chuckled. "Of course."

They went the bridge were Itachi pulled out a scroll containing food, and drinks. As they ate they talked about there lives, their families, the like. Ayame was sitting on the rail admiring the full moon while Itachi learned against it.

"…All in all, my life is good. Although my brothers can be quite bothersome. Especially Naruto and his metabolism." Itachi finished.

Ayame giggled. "Naruto-kun seems to be a handful."

Itachi sighed. "Yes, but even though he may be a brat…He's still my brother."

Ayame smiled, then shivered. Itachi saw this. "You want to go back? I don't want you to catch a cold."

The brunette nodded. "Ok, let's go."

They decided to walk back this time; Ayame would occasionally shiver in the cold night, Itachi decided to wrap his arm around her—which caused her face to turn red. Itachi also noticed some kunoichi glaring a the girl next to him, so he held her closer and smirked at them.

When they arrived at Ayame's house, she let go of Itachi. "I enjoyed the date. Not bad for your first try." She said jokingly.

Itachi ignored the comment. "Well, I try…" He replied. Itachi was about to turn when the girl roped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips. Fireworks went off in his body as Ayame deepened the kiss. When there lips departed she blushed. "Um…I don't know where that came from…"

Itachi scratched the back of his head. "Um…I wanted to ask you, would you like to be my girlfriend?"

The girl before him had an unreadable expression on her face as she said one word.

"No…"

Itachi's eyes saddened. But widened back as she hugged him. "I'd LOVE to be your girlfriend!" The Uchiha heir smiled as he returned the hug, he looked in to Ayame's coal black orbs again and kissed her passionately."

----------------------------------------

**Whew! Longest chapter I've done so far! Sorry if the date didn't seem exciting but I wanted to save the excitement for the next date! I've got to say, the kunoichi won't give up, will they?**

**I hope you liked my Itachi-centric chapter!**


	17. Sand Siblings

**A/N: Hey, Happy New Year! And for your New-Year present I present to you a new chapter of Son of the Kyuubi! Enjoy!**

**I own Naruto (Lawyers burst into the room) …I'm Kidding! Jeez…**

**--------------------**

Over the next month, the genin were training diligently for the upcoming chunin exams. This exam will be the most spectacular one Konoha has seen since the Fourth took the exams.

Team 7 has improved a lot over the one month. Naruto has learned a few new dances such as **Willow Dance **and **Genji Dance**. He also learned a jutsu that his biological father created and left incomplete—the **Rasengan**. Naruto has also spoke with Hiruzen and the Council: they say that after the Chunin Exams, Naruto's lineage will be known through out Konoha.

Sasuke has mastered the Uchiha family Crow summoning contract (by having Itachi push him off a cliff) the Boss Summon, Karasumaru—noted that Sasuke's chakra resembles that of a man named Madara—and has bugged the young Uchiha since. Sasuke also learned some genjutsu combined with the summoning contract such as **Summoning Genjutsu: Ephemeral.**

Sakura has made excellent progress in the Genjutsu field, and Itachi noticed that she has some potential in medical jutsu, so he listed the help of Dr. Yakushi to start Sakura off in the medic fields. She has learned to make **Chakra Scalpels **and learned a powerful genjutsu—**Genjutsu: Infinite Darkness**.

Itachi himself has been through some trouble with his relationship with Ayame—don't get the wrong idea, they are happily in love—but after what happened...

-Dzero9-ton: Flashback Jutsu!-

_Itachi was strolling through Konoha casually with his girlfriend in his arms. They decided to take a walk together through the village and now Itachi was taking her back to the ramen stand._

_When the saw it in view they froze immediately. Ichiraku Ramen was vandalized from the inside-out. Slurs about Ayame dating Itachi were all over the walls, they dumped ramen ingredients everywhere._

_Ayame ran up to the ruined ramen bar, and sobbed. Itachi was right there beside her—mentally cursing whowever had done this. That was when Teuchi came out and made an ultimatum—either Ayame leaves Ichiraku's or she'll be forced to break up with Itachi._

_In the end, Ayame made a tough decision—she left Ichiraku's. Feeling responsible, Itachi offered her to stay at the Uzumaki household. Yokoumaru agreed she could stay but on a few conditions:_

_No sex without a silence seal on the door_

_And no touchy-feely at the table._

-Flashback Jutsu: Release!-

Also, Naruto and Hinata went on their first date. There date went off without a hitch—until Ino showed up. Ino sat at the table in front of them, the date was normal until Ino shouted 'Spider!' and tossed a plate of spaghetti on poor Hinata—luckily, Naruto used **Substitution **to switch with Hinata, so he instead got spaghetti all over him.

Ino quickly apologized, and left the restaurant saying something about not feeling hungry anymore. Naruto shrugged it off but Hinata suspected foul play.

Sasuke and Haku are getting closer to each other. Itachi saw that his little brother had talent for swords and enlisted Zabuza's help. Zabuza would often make Sasuke and Haku spar, and their relationship bloomed.

Let's not forget Yokoumaru and Kurenai. The demon fox didn't know why—but he felt compassion towards the human female. He couldn't explain it-but he felt his heart ache when he saw Kurenai's condition on that mission they had. Yokoumaru should've fought that puppet instead of Kurenai. Instead—he got stuck fighting a foul-mouthed immortal guy and his tentacle-rape wannabe partner. When she came to, Kurenai was surprised that Yokoumaru came to visit her, while she was rehabilitating. She thought he didn't want anything to do with her (Since during the beginning part of the mission Yokoumaru was pretty cold towards her). They developed a quick friendship after she was discharged.

Then…at last, one week before the exams…

--------------------

Naruto and Hinata were taking a stroll through the village, talking casually about nothing. Naruto suddenly grew aggravated and turned around.

"You know, rocks aren't square, and they don't have eyeholes you know!" He shouted at the one-foot-tall-brick-wall that was following them. The one-foot-tall-brick-wall exploded in a cloud of smoke—child-like coughing was heard in the smoke.

"I think we used too much gunpowder, Konohamaru…" Came a boyish voice, followed by a sniffle.

Naruto slapped his forehead and Hinata giggled. The smoke cleared and three academy students came out—Naruto immediately recognized Konohamaru, but the other two he didn't know.

"Konohamaru…" Naruto started.

Konohamaru looked at Naruto in amazement. "I can't believe you saw through my disguise—pretty clever for my rival."

"That's Naruto? _The _Naruto?" The academy girl with the orange hair and goggles that match Konohamaru's asked.

"Yup. Naruto-niichan also wants to become Hokage." Konohamaru said with pride. Naruto shook his head.

"So...who are your friends?" Naruto asked.

"I'm Moegi—the sassiest kunoichi in the academy!" The academy girl said.

"And I'm Udon… The smartest of the academy." He said as he sniffled again.

"And together we form the Konohamaru Corp.!" They all said together, and then struck a ridiculous pose.

Naruto sweat dropped. "Right…Anyway, I'm Naruto as you know, and this is Hinata Hyuga." He said, gesturing over to the girl next him

Konohamaru turned to Naruto. "Wow! You hit the jackpot!" He said, giving him a thumbs up.

Naruto looked confused. "What?"

Konohamaru explained. "C'mon, the curves, the caboose, you've definitely scored big!"

Naruto and Hinata both blushed. "W-well…I…"

The young Sarutobi changed the subject. "Anyway, can you guys play ninja with us? Huh, huh, can you, huh, huh?" He pleaded.

The older blond shrugged. "Alright, fine we have nothing better to do, right Hina-chan?"

Hinata smiled and nodded. "Sure, we can play."

The Konohamaru Corps. Cheered.

"A ninja playing ninja? What is this, Naruto?"

Naruto and the others turned around to see Sakura walking up to them.

"Oh…Hello, Sakura." Naruto said.

Konohamaru pointed at her. "Who is that, and what's with that monstrous forehead?" He asked.

Naruto paled. "Kono…"

"Seriously, there's no way a human can have one that big…"

Hinata looked worried. "Konohamaru-kun…"

"And darn is she flat! She's flatter than a baby!"

Naruto walked up to the boy. "Hey, Konohamaru."

"Yeah?"

"How fast can you run?"

"Pretty fast, why?"

"You might want to start…"

"I'LL SLAUGHTER YOU!!" Sakura screeched as she charged at the young Sarutobi. Konohamaru ran for his dear life, with his friends following after.

Naruto burst out laughing; Hinata was in a fit of giggles. Their laughing stopped when they heard Konohamaru shout. "Hey, let me go you jerk!"

"Hey put him down! He didn't mean it!"

Naruto and Hinata nodded to each other and ran off in their direction.

--------------------

Konohamaru was struggling to fight back, but couldn't because he was held up by his scarf by a person with face paint and a black jumpsuit on with a mummy on his back.

"I'll teach you to run into me, kid." He said with a sneer.

"Kankuro put him down." Said a teenage girl with sandy blond hair done in four pig-tails, with a fan on her back.

"Temari, it will only take a second…" He said.

"Oi! Put him down!" Naruto said as he arrived on the scene. He noticed Sakura there as well as some one else, he noticed their hitai-ates. _Sand ninja? Must be here for the exams. _

"Who's gonna make me?" He said defiantly. Just then, a rock came and hit Kankuro's hand; causing him to drop Konohamaru. The boy proceeded to scurry back to his friends.

"I am, and I did." Said a new voice from atop of the trees. A figure dropped down and glared at the jumpsuit wearing shinobi. "Don't you know who that was? That was our Hokage's grandson. If you were to punch him, which would've started a war."

Naruto grinned. "Sasuke! Way to save the day!"

Sasuke gave him a thumbs up.

Kankuro seemed to of only got angrier. "Why I oughta—"

"Kankuro. Stop."

Kankuro and Temari paled. The turned to the trees to see a boy hanging upside down on one of the branches. The boy had messy red hair, and cold teal eyes. He also had a sand gourd on his back.

"G-Gaara…" Temari whispered.

The boy turned to Kankuro. "Kankuro, you are an embarrassment to the village."

Kankuro could only nod. "Now let's get out of here." He said as he jumped down.

"Hey!" Sasuke shouted to them.

They turned around. "What do you want?" Kankuro said.

"I'm assuming you're here for the chunin exams, right? What are your names?"

The girl answered first. "Yes, and my name is Temari."

The boy with the mummy spoke next. "And I'm Kankuro, the puppet master."

Last, the younger boy spoke. "And I'm Gaara…" He said. His voice sent a chill down Sakura and Hinata's spine.

"How about you?" He asked.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha." He responded.

"And I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" the blond shouted.

"I'm Hinata Hyuga…" The indigo haired girl said with a bow.

Lastly, Sakura spoke. "And I'm—"

"I could care less." Gaara said, cutting her off. "If we end up fighting in the chunin exams, I'll definitely enjoy our match, Uchiha-san, Hyuga-san, Uzumaki-san." He said as he and his siblings walked off.

Naruto shook off the awkwardness. "Creepy…"

Sasuke turned to see Sakura still shivering. "Sakura, he's gone now, what's wrong?"

Sakura looked up at Sasuke. "It's nothing, really."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

--------------------

**A/N: End of chapter! I hope you guys liked it. And also I hope you sensed the foreshadowing between the Sand Sibs and Naruto's group. Anyway, the poll on my profile is still on about whom Kimimaro should be paired with. And Konoha: At war won the last poll as well. It's all on my profile so, vote, and read Konoha: At war!**


	18. Chunin Exams begin!

**Hey, its Dzero9 here back with another chapter of Son of the Kyuubi!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

**--------------------**

"Ahh!" Sasuke screamed as he woke up from a nightmare. It was the night of the exams, and in the morning they set out to the academy to perform the written portion of the exams.

Sasuke was panting as he wiped the sweat off his brow. Naruto, who slept on the bottom bunk, awoke from Sasuke scream, his impulse caused him to hit a steel bar supporting the top bunk, causing him to hiss in pain.

"Agh, Sasuke, what the hell!" Naruto shouted!

Soon after, the door swung open and out came Itachi and Ayame. Itachi wearing a bathrobe and Ayame in some…suggestive, undergarments.

"What's going on? We heard shouting?" Itachi asked.

Naruto shook off the pain, and turned to Itachi, he saw what they were wearing, and pointed at them. "I'm pretty sure we were about to hear some anyway!" He shot at him, Itachi's face flushed for a second and shook it off.

"That's beside the point!" He shot back. Looked up to see that Sasuke hadn't said a word.

"Sasuke." Itachi said calmly. The young Uchiha turned to his brother. "Are you alright?"

Sasuke wordlessly nodded.

Itachi didn't bother to press the matter any further. "Ok then, but try to get some rest, alright?"

Sasuke nodded. Itachi turned around and closed the door with Ayame in tow. When the two made it to Itachi's room, he turned to his girlfriend with a lustful glint in his eye. "Now, where were we?"

Ayame responded with a lustful grin, Itachi lead her to his room—not before checking the silence seal on the door.

--------------------

Morning came…

Naruto and Sasuke raced downstairs to see Yokoumaru reading the _Konoha Times _newspaper.

"Ahh, you're yup. Ready for the chunin exams?" Yokoumaru asked.

"You bet we are, dad!" Naruto said with his trademark grin. Sasuke just smirked as he strapped his sword on his back.

"Well, eat already because you have to set out, soon." Just as soon as those words left his mouth, Itachi's door opened across the hall. Out came the Uchiha and Ayame, wearing some of _his _clothes. Itachi was fully equipped in his jonin attire.

"_Someone _had fun last night…lucky bastard." Yokoumaru murmured. If the other demons got wind of the Great Kyuubi no Yoko, not getting laid in almost 15 years, he'd be the laughing stock of the Biju realm.

Sasuke and Naruto turned to them, with toaster waffles in there mouths. "mid moo hab fwon mlast fighf?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto could've sworn he saw question marks floating around Itachi's head. "What?" He said flatly as he and Ayame sat at the table.

Sasuke swallowed his food. "I said: Did you have fun last night?" This caused Itachi's face to turn beet red. It wasn't often this happened, the last time it happened he went face first in his sensei's overly large breasts. Ayame was just as red; she turned away—not daring to look at them.

"I'll take your disheveled states and the fact that Ayame is wearing your clothes, and the fact that you two reek of hour-old pheromones, I'll take that as a yes. Congrats on becoming a man, Itachi!" Yokoumaru said as he slapped Itachi's back and body flickered away to who-knows-where.

Itachi turned to his snickering brothers. "Finish your toaster waffles and c'mon."

--------------------

As the trio walked, Naruto with his hands behind his head eyed Sasuke. "Ne, Sasuke?" He said.

The Uchiha turned to his blond brother. "Hm?"

"About your nightmare…It must've been pretty bad." He said.

"Yeah…but the thing is, I can only remember bits and pieces of it now. All I can remember is a monster, killing someone close to us. You and Itachi-nii were there. We all hovered over this person. I never felt so much grief… and never saw so much blood since…"

Itachi wordlessly listened in. And mused over what he said. Who could it be? His thoughts went to his dear Ayame-hime. He shivered—another thing he rarely did.

They arrived at the entrance of the academy to see Sakura there waiting for them. "Hey, guys!" Sakura called as she ran up to them.

She raced over to them. "C'mon you two, the other teams are already in there!" She said.

"Well, this where I get off. But know this: The chunin exams are nothing like you've ever seen. Stay safe, watch each others backs…and good luck." He said as he vanished in a swirl of leaves. The team smiled to each other as they made their way into the academy.

--------------------

The stopped on the second floor to see a commotion going on at one of the doors.

"Let us pass, please!" Said one of the oddest genin team 7 has ever seen. He wore a green spandex outfit with orange leg warmers, and a bowl haircut. He was trying to get into room 301 but two genin impeded his path.

"No way, kid." One said with his leaf hitai-ate like a bandana said.

"The chunin exams are way out of your league. What makes you think you can pass it?" The one with bandage on his face said.

Team 7 observed what was going on carefully and came to one conclusion

"Genjutsu" The all whispered.

"What should we do, Sasuke-kun? Should we tell them?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke snorted. "Like hell we won't, less competition—"

"Hey you fucking idiots! Don't you ass wipes know that it's a fucking Genjutsu! C'mon!!"

"Tayuya…ladies shouldn't curse—"

"Stow it, fatass!"

"…You two…"

All eyes turned to the group that entered after team 7. The girl identified as Tayuya and long, messy pinkish-red hair under a hat. She wore a tan shirt with skin-tight long-sleeve black shirt underneath. She also wore a purple-robe tied in a bow, a loincloth with a yin-yang symbol and black spandex shorts.

The biggest of the three unidentified team had his orange hair done in a Mohawk, he wore a similar outfit to the girl.

The last one was one of the tallest, sickliest and thinnest in the room. (Seriously, he's taller than Kurenai!) He had shoulder-length braided white hair, and sea-green eyes with red eye-shadow and two red dots on his forehead. (Naruto gaped at this) he wore a purple kimono; an identical purple rope tied into a bow around his waist, and black shinobi sandals.

"What the fuck are you ass munchers staring at?" Tayuya shouted.

"Tayuya…" The big one pleaded.

"Not another word, fatty!"

The tall one slapped his forehead and rubbed the dots on his head together. Tayuya had a mouth on her, but she was loyal and treats people with the respect they deserve, he would never admit it—he liked that quality.

The big one, Jirobo—was constantly insulted because of his weight by the red-head of the group.

"Can you two stop? We're attracting attention." He said. Sure enough, the whole room was staring at them. The tall one looked over to team 7—more importantly, Naruto. He was mused from his thoughts when the bowl-cut boy made his presence known.

"Thanks, for detecting that Genjutsu. I'm afraid I still need training." He said with a bow.

Tayuya scoffed a 'whatever' and Jirobo just nodded.

The bowl cut boy let the team pass and watched as the headed upstairs. That's when he noticed Sakura n the crowd. He instantly had hearts in his eyes as he ran over.

"You ,miss, what is your name?" He asked. Naruto and Sasuke didn't even notice his chakra—who is this guy?

Sakura who was taken aback by the boy's appearance—but at least what she could do was being polite. "I-I'm Sakura Haruno…" She answered unsure of this stranger's next reaction.

"Oh, such a youthful name indeed! Sakura-san, would you please go out with me on a date?!" He asked.

Sakura was overwhelmed by this display. She came up with one answer. "No way!" She shouted. "I have eyes for someone else, thank you." Sasuke sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, an action that didn't go unnoticed by the bowl cut boy.

"Ah, you must be the object of her affection, Sasuke Uchiha! I challenge you to a sparring match!" He declared.

The crowd of people waited in anticipation, those who didn't know Sasuke thought he was an emo stick-up-his-ass avenger who would never pass up a challenge. But those who knew him—

"I'll pass. I'd rather save my energy for the chunin exams." Sasuke announced, causing everyone who didn't know him to gasp. The bowl cut boy sputtered until a poof of smoke appeared next to him to reveal a turtle—but what was more interesting was who was on the turtle. Standing in the most ridiculous pose was a man who looked identical to the boy. Naruto had to make a double-take to make sure his eyes weren't fooling him.

"Lee! What's this about fighting an opponent before the chunin exams start?" He said, clearly upset.

"I'm sorry, Guy-sensei! I just got carried away when I saw Sakura-san—"

"Lee! Find your teammates and hurry upstairs."

"Yes Guy-sensei!" that was all he said as he disappeared into the crowd.

Guy turned to the startled team 7. "So, you three must be Itachi's team!?" He exclaimed/asked.

"Er…yeah." Sasuke said.

"Well, I wish you three good luck in the exams, and let your flames of youth burn brightly!!" He shouted as he vanished in a plume of smoke.

--------------------

Meanwhile while all that was going on, Itachi and Ayame were furiously making out under a bridge somewhere in the village. Their lips departed to get some air when Ayame brought up a question.

"Hey, Itachi-kun."

"Yes, Ayame-hime?" The girl blushed at the 'hime' extension at the end of her name.

"Can't you just tell Yokoumaru the truth? That we're both still technically—"

Itachi hushed her with a kiss.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

**--------------------**

**A/N: Yayz! End of this chapter! Some questions have been raised:**

**What was Sasuke's nightmare?**

**What exactly did Itachi and Ayame do last night?**

**How will Kimimaro and Naruto interact with each other?**

**Will Lee take a hint?**

**Find out next time on Son of the Kyuubi!**

**Also, I remember a review that asked if there were going to be any lemons, and I think I can answer that now:**

**No. Primarily because I'm under aged (Yet I'm more perverted than the self proclaimed ones at my school). If any one else want to do any, fine by me.**

**I'll update Konoha: at War, next.**


	19. Inuteme

**A/N: Yo! It's time for a new chapter of Son of the Kyuubi! I'm going to take this time to answer some questions from my loyal reviewers!**

**Chewie cookies-I'll give your story a look see!**

**jeroen otten- Thanks!**

**HaloChris-Lol, Lee will never take a hint.**

**SnowCharms-Oh I wouldn't say that… And Sasuke's dream…I can't tell.**

**Kyuubilord-Lol, Yokoumaru doesn't know anything these days…But you can't avoid the eye of the Kitsune forever!**

**LeafRanger-Tayuya will live, don't worry—she'll have a major role in a future arc**

**Also Tenten won the poll!**

**I got a message from Sasuke allow me to read it:**

_**Dzero9 does not own Naruto**_

**--------------------**

Team 7 makes their way to room 301, and opened the door…

The team was startled by the killing intent the 100+ genin in the room. Naruto and Sasuke scoffed while Sakura shivered a bit.

"Naruto-kun!!" Naruto turned to the source of that heavenly voice to see Hinata fling her arms at him in a hug.

Naruto laughed and smiled. "Haha…I'm happy to see you too, Hina-chan." Naruto said as he returned the hug.

"Naruuutoo-kuuun!!!!" Naruto was glomped from behind by a blond and purple form, he was forced to let go of Hinata.

"What now Ino-_chan…_and I'm using that honorific loosely…" He muttered that last part, causing Hinata to giggle.

Ino glared at the girl, causing Hinata to whistle innocently. "So, Naruto-kun….how about you and I go on a date after the exams?"

Naruto looked at her with a bored expression. "Sorry, did you say something?"

Sasuke busted out laughing and Sakura was trying her hardest not to do the same, Ino's face is just too funny.

"Ino you troublesome woman, eave Naruto alone." Shikamaru said as he walked up to them with Choji in tow.

Sasuke waved to them. "Yo." He said casually, the boys returned the wave. Ino proceeded to berate the Lazy Genin about bossing her around when two other figures appeared.

"Hey there, Hina-chan. So this is where you ran off to." Kiba said as he made his presence known, with Shino following behind.

Naruto and Sasuke glared at him while team 10 and Sakura looked on.

"Cut it out, Inu-teme (Dog bastard), you know Hinata doesn't want you calling her that." Naruto said as calm as he could.

"Shut it skinny bones, I can call her whatever the hell I want, she _is _my teammate." His little dog Akamaru yipped in agreement.

Naruto was miffed at the 'skinny-bones' insult. His kekkei genkai require him to be thin.

"She's your teammate and comrade—not some sort of object!" Sasuke shouted, drawing the attention of several genin.

The tall boy's team looked on intrigued. The tall boy glared at the one with the dog. _Insulting our clan leads to a haste death…_

The Sand sibs looked on as well.

The Kusa team in the back was watching as well, the kunoichi licking her lips _Kukukuku… Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun's anger towards the mutt is…interesting._

Team Guy was semi-intrigued. So they decided to make their presence known.

Meanwhile Kiba scoffed. "Yeah? And says who?"

"Says us!"

Rock Lee stepped up; upset at Kiba's remark. "You! How dare you say such things about your teammate! It is most unyouthfu!"

Kiba grumbled. "Kiba, that's enough." Said the ever introverted Shino.

The boy just cursed. Then the girl with the hairstyle that resembles two buns spoke up. "Hey, we're all leaf-nin right? We shouldn't fight amongst ourselves."

"That's right Tenten!" Lee said giving her a thumbs up.

The tall man observed the girl who made her appearance. He instantly clutched his chest. _My face feels hot…and my heart is pounding…Whats going on??_

"Hmph, whatever. Fate decided this argument, it was inevitable." Said the Hyuga boy on the team. His eyes stumbled upon Hinata. He suppressed a sneer. "Hello, Hinata-_sama" _He said.

The girl flinched under his gaze. "H-hello…Neji-niisan."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Hina-chan, you have a brother? You never told us." He said, wondering why she wouldn't mention him.

Neji glared at the blond. "We are _not _brother and sister. We are merely cousins." He responded, disgusted that this idiot before him would think that.

"Ok, would you all shut up? You're making a scene." Came a new voice. There stood a genin with silver hair and glasses, wearing a purple outfit.

Sakura's eye lit up when she saw him. "Ah! Kabuto-san!" She said. This caused the Konoha 12 to turn to the genin identified as 'Kabuto'.

"Eh, Forehead? You know this geek?" Ino asked. Sakura was about to retort when Kabuto spoke up.

"Yes, and my name is Kabuto Yakushi. I'm the son of the head medic; I met Sakura-chan through my father as she received medical training from him."

He then proceeded to pull out some cards from his pocket. "See these? These are my…Ninja-Info-Cards. I infuse them with chakra…" He demonstrated by holding a card up and pouring some chakra into the card, a picture of himself with a little chart appeared. "… and a detailed record of the person appears. So! Does anyone want to know anything?"

Sasuke spoke first. "Give me info on Sabaku no Gaara."

Then Naruto. "And I want info on the tall white-haired kid."

Kabuto nodded. "Ok, sure. Gaara is from the Sand Village, complete 0-D-rank, 10-C-rank, and a B-rank? They say he always left the mission without a scratch. …And I don't have any data on his stats. The tall one is Kimimaro Kaguya, the last of the Kaguya clan. That's all"

Naruto nodded his expression unreadable. He had just found out he had a surviving brother left! He was excited!

Kabuto decided to continue. "Anyway, I have data on everyone else here…Except for those Oto-teams. Otogakure is a new village, not worth mentioning."

One oto-genin didn't take that well. "Not worth mentioning?" The same mummified genin to a punch at Kabuto, the older genin expertly dodged. But a few seconds later, Kabuto began to clutch his stomach as his glasses cracked. He then vomited.

Sakura rushed to his side. "K-Kabuto-kun!" She didn't notice the slip of her tongue and ran to his side.

The rest of the genin were alarmed by this. How did Kabuto get hit? Neji took notice of the gauntlet on the genin's arm.

"All right you little shits! There shalt be no fighting in this room! Is that clear!!?" The attention of the room turned to a scarred tokubetsu jonin wearing a trench coat, and various chunin with him, one being Haku. Sasuke smiled and waved at her.

The bandaged genin shrugged. "Sorry, I'm a little antsy."

The man sighed. "Anyway. My name is Ibiki Morino, the proctor for the written portion of the exams—"

Naruto paled. _A written test? _He looked to see Kotetsu holding a stack of papers, rustling them his direction with a smirk.

_NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!_

--------------------

**A/N: …And so starts the written exams! Sorry about the lack of action, but I wanted to point some things out…**

**I'm planning on making Neji the main antagonist of the story.**

**There'll be no KabuSaku! Just some hints…**

**Kiba is an ass and I see him as such.**

**Written Tests Suck!**

**Tenten won the poll!**

**Now that that's taken care of…Ja ne!**


	20. The sexiest kunoichi

**A/N: Yo, foos! I'm back with chapter 20 (gasp!) of Son of the Kyuubi! I've decided to move my story 'Konoha at War' to my deviantart account, and start on Yamikage soon. Yamikage will be a NarutoxIsaribi fic, I know it seems strange but hear me out! Naruto and Isaribi seem to click in my opinion, I also have a surprise pairing for Tayuya in Yamikage, and also a surprise person travels with Naruto post-disappearance! I also decided to make it a three-year time skip than my initial six. Anyway:**

**Tachi-chihime-Lol, Ayame-chan just told me: 'Bring it on, then!!'**

**SnowCharms: I'm still debating on Neji being the antagonist. I'll probably make Kiba the antagonist instead. Kabuto is the only 'ninja' ninja in the series, so why make him a good guy? Lol, Tenten won the poll, I swear she came out of nowhere!**

**Oceangoddess: Lol, the son of the Kyuubi…afraid of written tests.**

**Leaf Ranger: Heh, Naruto would (and still) kick the shit outta Neji. But Naruto wouldn't cripple him for life… Unless he pisses him off.**

**Kyuubilord: Lol, they won't face off just yet…**

**I don't Own Naruto…**

**--------------------**

A man in black robes with red clouds and a kasa on his head riding a white bird landed out side the gates in Konoha, with a hand seal, the bird poofed in a burst of smoke. The man walked through gates, but was stopped by two chunin.

"Halt who goes there!" One said.

The man sighed and rubbed a hand through his blond hair. "I'm coming back from a long mission, I need to see the Hokage immediately…un."

The chunin weren't buying it. "We'll escort you." One said with a tone of suspicion.

"Fine, fine." He said with a shrug, showing off his teal-painted fingernails and strange grooves on his hands.

As they led him to the tower, He took a moment to look around through his kasa. _Village hasn't changed since 'he' kidnapped me. I can't wait to see my family again; I heard my dad re-married and I have a sister now…I wonder if she even remembers me…_

The man continued to walk as he gazed at his hands with a hint of sadness in his eyes. "mother…" he muttered.

"Did you say something?" On of the chunin accused.

"Nothing, Nothing."

--------------------

They made it to the office. Sarutobi was reading a black book titled _Icha Icha: The Kage's addition_. The old Hokage had to thank his student one day. Hiruzen was torn from his thoughts when someone knocked on the door.

"What is it?" He said, clearly annoyed.

"Hokage-sama! There is a guy wearing black robes and red clouds here to see you!" Hiruzen was alarmed. An Akatsuki is here to see _him? _Strange.

"Hokage, my man. Can you tell these idiots off, un?"

Sarutobi chuckled, "It's fine, send him in!"

The door swung open and the chunin pushed the Akatsuki in.

The door closed, and there were a few moments of silence between Hiruzen and the Akatsuki.

The Akatsuki took off his kasa to reveal himself as…

"Deidara-kun. I wasn't expecting you back for another 4 years, have you completed the mission?"

Deidara was an effeminate man with blond hair and blue eyes, he had a coy smile and an Iwa hitai-ate with a scar across his forehead. Deidara bowed.

"Sorry, but I got all the data I need about the Akatsuki, un." Deidara tossed him a scroll. Sarutobi caught it with ease and opened it. The Third's eyes widened.

"It's a list of all the current Akatsuki members, their known jutsu, their specialties, and their weaknesses. Also their goals and how far they achieved that goal, un."

Sarutobi was surprised he achieved such data over the course of 5 years.

"This data will finally solve the riddle of the Akatsuki. Deidara, I'll call the council together. But for now, you'll stay in one my rooms. But if you want to leave. You must keep that cloak on."

Deidara sighed. "Fine, Fine."

--------------------

Meanwhile, Naruto was in state of discomfort. He was separated from his team; they all sat somewhere else in the exams. At least he gets to sit next to his Hina-chan.

"Ok, I'll explain the rules. You have nine questions on the paper…." **(A/N: I'll skip the boring crap)**

Naruto was still sweating on the first question, 20 minutes into the test. He looked to see how everyone else was doing….and was shocked to see that they were all cheating! Even his Hina-chan! That's when he got the idea. He knew that this test was strange. Why did Ibiki stress upon cheating? Naruto didn't know what to do to cheat, so he did the next best thing.

_Hey, dad? Dad?_

_**Hunh? What now, kit?**_The Kyuubi asked, with a tone of sleepiness in his voice.

_I found the purpose of the first part of the chunin exams, and that is to cheat on the test! I need you to tell me the answer to this question…_

"…Pencils down! Now, It's time for the tenth question. If you get this question wrong…your team fails, and will be genin forever!"

This caused for alarm through the genin. Haku looked at Sasuke worriedly. Sasuke wasn't wavering.

Sakura was nervous, one wrong move—and that'll be it.

Naruto saw through his deception, he noticed Hina-chan was shaking. Naruto put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Hinata looked over at him, Naruto just smiled.

"…So, who wants out?" Ibiki asked.

One by one, people raised there hands. Naruto watched as some of the teams left. His eyes widened when he noticed Sakura was about to raised her hand as well.

_Uh-oh, this is bad_

Naruto raised his hand. Ibiki looked at him smugly. "Give up, brat?"

He then slammed his hand down. "NO! I refuse to give up! Play all the mind games you want! Bring the last question! I'll just have to be the first genin to become Hokage then!"

Naruto's little speech brought the courage back in the remaining genin.

Sasuke smirked. _That brother of mine…_

Kiba growled. _Show off_

Kimimaro had a satisfied smirk on his face. _I'm glad to know my clan is still as strong as it was before. Mentally and Physically_

Haku smiled

Hinata gazed at him in awe. _Naruto-kun…you…I…_

Neji scowled at him. _Fool, it is not your destiny to become Hokage._

"Is that your answer, brat?" Ibiki asked. Naruto just nodded. Ibiki chuckled. "Well, then you all pass—good work!"

Everyone gave a 'WTF' look at the scarred chunin. Ibiki explained himself. "This test was just to show if you had the skill to be a good covert spy. This is why we told you not to cheat. To be a good shinobi, you have to use everything at your disposal to get the mission complete…" He then took off his headband, everyone grimaced at the sight. His head was a mess of scars and holes.

"…but there is a chance you may be captured by the enemy. You'll be tortured in order for you to spill your guts." He put his headband back on.

"Now, then for someone who is a lot sexier than I am…ANKO MITARASHI!!"

The bewildered genin watched as a black ball busted into the door via the window. The ball burst into smoke. To reveal a banner saying: ANKO MITARASHI, KONOHA'S SEXIEST KUNOICHI

"Thanks Ibiki." Said Anko as she emerged from the ball. The jonin looked around. "There's still some teams left, you're slipping in your old age!" She said.

Ibiki shrugged. "We have a tough crowd, there's nothing to it."

"Well, whatever, but once I get through with them, they'll be less than half of the genin left." She said with a sadistic smirk.

Some of the genin shivered while other looked on indifferent.

"Ok, you little snots—on your feet! Now follow me!"

--------------------

Anko led them to training ground 44.

"This—is training ground 44, the Forrest of Death." Anko smirked when she saw the fear in some of the genin's eyes.

"Pheh, the Forest of Death? HAH! Don't make me laugh!" Kiba laughed as he saw Anko's scowl. All of the sudden a kunai grazed Kiba's cheeked. Everyone saw as Anko appeared behind him, she licked his cheek as the blood started to drip from it.

"You should watch what you say. It's always the idiots that die first."

Out of nowhere, a ridiculously long tongue appeared with the kunai wrapped around it. "Excuse me, but you dropped this." Said the owner of said tongue, who was a Kusa kunoichi.

Anko grimaced as she returned the kunai to her. "Gee, thanks."

Anko got back up front. "Ok, you have 5 days to get through the forest, here—take this." She hands them all wavers.

"Whats this, shit?" Tayuya asked.

"It's a waver saying Konoha isn't responsible for your deaths. Now, sign them and hand them to those guys over there to get your scroll."

Team 7 was given the earth scroll. "So that means we need a heaven scroll." Naruto said.

The genin regrouped back at the gates to the forest.

"Ok, now that you signed the wavers and got the scrolls, I have one thing to say…Just don't die! Now go!"

The gates opened and the teams spread out.

-With Team 7-

"Ok, team. We get a heaven scroll, knock out some more competition, and help our fellow leaf ninja…even if some of them are assholes…" Naruto said.

"That sounds good. We should help Hina-chan's team first, though." Sasuke replied.

"Yeah, and also find...Kimimaro-niisan"

-With Team 8-

"We'll find a spot and set up camp, and we'll set out for scrolls in the night." Shino said.

"What? But I wanna fight Naruto as soon as possible!!" Kiba shouted.

"Kiba! Please be quiet!" Hinata whispered harshly. Kiba clamped his mouth shut.

-With Team 10-

"C'mon! We gotta find Naruto-kun!" Ino shouted at her team.

"Ino this is troublesome, lets just get a scroll and leave." Shikamaru said.

"Yeah, lets just go already…" Choji replied snacking on some chips.

-With Team Guy-

"We get the scroll and go, no point of staying here. We have a heaven scroll, so we're going after that idiot's team." Neji said.

Lee said nothing, but Tenten wanted to object. "But Neji, they didn't do—"

"Slience."

-With Team Kimi-

"Kimimaro, where are we going?" Tayuya asked.

"We are going to find Naruto."

"Why are we going after that boy anyway?"

"Because...he's family."

Jirobo quietly listened in.

-With the Sound Trio-

"We kill Sasuke and go, plain and simple." Dosu said to his team.

"Right."

"Uh-huh."

-Grass Team-

"Kukuku…We find Sasuke's team, and give him my 'gift…kukukuku…" the Kunoichi said quietly.

Her teammates nodded.

-Sand Siblings-

"We are to find Uzumaki's team and fight them and take their scroll, any questions." Gaara asked

Temari and Kankuro nodded.

The teams all had one particular team in mind: Team 7

**A/N: Aww man, All of the teams are after team 7! One way, or another! Prepare for an epic battle in the next few chapters. Yay! Deidara was the Akatsuki member who handed the scroll to Itachi. Also, I have a notebook with up to 30 chapters of Son of the Kyuubi. Here are some interesting quotes of this arc:**

"_**Am I…going to die?"-Itachi**_

"_**CHIDORI!!!"-Sasuke**_

"_**She's gone…no…"-Sasuke**_

"_**Allow me to help you"-Kimimaro**_

"_**I can't live without you!"-Hinata**_

"_**Shukaku! I'll save you from your torment!-Yokoumaru**_

"_**Your coughing up blood!"-Naruto**_

**I'll get a few more up tomorrow. Anyway, no new chapter until the next poll is answered: Who should be the main antagonist? Kiba or Neji?**

**JA NE!!**


	21. In some deep brown stuff

**A/n: Hey, It's time to announce the winner of the poll…**

**KIBA!**

…**I didn't see this one coming. I always thought that Neji would make the better antagonist. I might just run with Neji as the antagonist, it would do good for KimiTen pairing, so if you don't like it, too fucking bad!!!**

**Kyourimaru-Heh, you do that. But credit me, ok?**

**Narai Moroha-I see your discomfort on the Kiba-Neji situation. But hey, not everyone gets what they want. I'll leave the whole Itachi Ayame thing for the reader to decide. Also, I already have the --------------- thing, so I don't need it. Yeah, Tayuya was a bit OOC with her conversation with Kimimaro, but remember in canon—Kimimaro threatened to kill her.**

**Unices: thanks, I think the fact that Neji will be antagonist will turn away some people, but those who remain loyal have my deepest gratitude.**

**Exile-kun: Lol, Kiba wouldn't make a good antagonist anyway, after all he has no evil gene in his body.**

**Leaf Ranger: Yeah, Team 7 have subconsciously made enimies**

**Ok, on with the show!**

**--------------------**

Itachi was seen walking in to the local weapon shop, His eyes seemed indifferent to the un trained shinobi, but one with skill could see he was anxious about something. Could the source be in this very shop?

When he opened the sliding door, he was greeted by a man with scars all over his body behind the counter sharpening some swords. The man was middle aged, and had narrowed eyes, he looked up at the Uchiha and smiled. "Ahh, Itachi-kun, I have your order."

Itachi nodded. "I'm pretty sure it wasn't an easy sword to forge."

The man sighed. "Damn right it wasn't, you better be lucky I decided to forge a weapon of this caliber, now follow me to the back." Itachi nodded and followed.

--------------------

Team 7 came to a stopped in a clearing, Naruto looked around and said. "Yo, I gotta go to bathroom, be right back." Sasuke griped and Sakura decked him on the head. Naruto shook it off as nothing and went off somewhere in the woods.

Moments later, Naruto walked out. "Hehe…I wrote my whole name." He said with an annoying nasally voice. While Sakura was berating him Sasuke charged at him and with a kunai. Naruto saw this and jumped back and pulled out one of his own.

"Sasuke-kun what are you doing? That's Naruto!"

"Yeah you teme! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Sasuke scoffed. "Shut up you phony. Your transformation skills suck. My brother doesn't sound like that, nor is he shorter than me. Plus, you have a kunai holster, Naruto didn't wear one, and your whole demeanor screams 'fake'"

'Naruto' burst into smoke to reveal an Ame-nin wearing a breather. "You saw through my disguise…you're pretty clever."

"Actually no." Sasuke deadpanned.

"Whatever, you're outnumbered 3-2! Come out guys!" No one came out; the Ame-nin looked around wondering what the hell were his teammates doing.

"Correction; _you _are the one who is outnumbered." The real Naruto said as he emerged.

Sasuke smirked. The ame-nin turned to see the boy, grinning dangerously. "Where are my teammates?" He asked nervously.

"Oh, I killed them." He said rather cold bloodily. "And you're about to die too, right Sasuke?"

Sasuke nodded with a hint of bloodlust within his Sharingan eyes. Sasuke charged at amazing speeds towards the Ame-nin, the mask-wearing ninja sensed this and jumped back. Then called out two Water Clones to engage Sasuke.

Sasuke smirked and drew his sword, which he called _Uchiwa _and slashed at a clone, which blocked with a kunai, Sasuke jumped back and charged forward again, this time with a downwards slash the Bunshin jumped and the other clone tried to engage Sasuke, but he easily kicked it aside.

Sakura watched in mild horror at the look in Sasuke's eyes as he charged into battle. She was still shocked at Naruto declaration. Why did he have to kill his teammates for?

Sasuke jumped back and ran through handseals. **"Katon: Phoenix Fire Jutsu!" **Multiple fireballs shot out from his mouth, one clone was incinerated while Sasuke quickly stabbed the other. He then looked up at the Ame-nin who was scared shitless. Sasuke ran up the tree the Ame-nin was on, the enemy genins' eyes widened, he tried to jump, but his body wouldn't move, Sasuke took this opportunity to stab the petrified genin in the chest.

When the body fell, Naruto hopped down from his spot in the trees and searched him, to his surprise—the guy had a heaven scroll. Naruto smirked. "Yo, Sasuke!"

Sasuke looked over his shoulder, he was currently cleaning the blood off his sword. "I found the heaven scroll!"

Sasuke got up as soon as the blood was gone and ran over to see. "Yup, it is! Now we can go help Hinata's team!"

They were about to leave when Sakura made her presence known. "Hey! Are you just gonna act like nothing happened?"

Naruto looked over his shoulder. "Whaddya mean?"

Sakura shook her head in frustration. "You KILLED that guy and his team? Was that necessary? All too just get a stupid scroll?"

"Yes." Sasuke answered.

"I can't believe you two! You could've just knocked just knocked them out or something, so why kill them?"

"Because Sakura…In the shinobi world, when you are entrusted with something important as these scrolls, you have to expect to forfeit your life if enemies were to arise to take it." The Uchiha replied emotionlessly as he and Naruto kept walking.

"That still doesn't justify what you've done? You two are monsters!!"

Naruto and Sasuke stopped. Sakura was immediately on edge. The blond of the team exhaled as he looked up at the towering forest before them. "Look, killing isn't a choice, it's a job. We don't like to kill, we aren't used to killing, and we never will. But we learn how to turn off our emotions. Sakura, if we had just 'knocked them out' they would just wake up, and seek us out again and challenge us. In the real world, do you think an enemy shinobi will just 'knock you out' and wait for you to regain consciousness while he has an important document? No. He'll kill you. No remorse. No exceptions."

Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing, but she just simply nodded and followed after them.

--------------------

Meanwhile, Team 8 was racing against time, they have to find Team 7, and warn them of Gaara. Hinata gulped for the third time in less than an hour the memory of the red head still in her mind.

-Dzero9-ton: flashback Jutsu!-

_Team 8 was currently spying on a match between that sand team and an Amegakure team. Akamaru began to whimper._

"_What's wrong Akamaru?" Kiba asked in a whisper. The puppy began to whimper more._

"_What's he saying?" Hinata asked._

"_He's saying that the one with the umbrella is dangerous!" Kiba replied_

_Team 8 watched as the Ame-nin launched a barrage of needles at Gaara's team. Gaara simply stood there. The team watched in shock as a wall of sand formed around him, protecting him from the needles._

"…_I see, how I could I have mistook that!"_

"_What is it, Kiba?" Shino decided to ask._

"_Akamaru said that the umbrella guy was __**in **__danger! He said that Gaara was the dangerous one! And that sand…It stinks of blood."_

_Team 8 watched as the Ame team was crushed by the sand, they looked away in shock. But what he said next almost made Hinata faint:_

"_Next on our list is Uzumaki's team…I can't wait."_

-Flashback Jutsu: Release!-

Now team 8 was desperately searching for anything blond, pink, or a jacket with an Uchiha Fan on it. Hinata was scared for Naruto-kun, Sakura and Sasuke. Kiba, while he didn't like Naruto—didn't want him to get killed. Shino just didn't want to see Hinata cry, that was enough for him.

--------------------

Team 7 sensed that they were being followed by not one, but two teams. This put them on edge. When they reached another clearing Sasuke devised a plan.

Out of nowhere, I great gust of wind appeared, quickly thinking, Naruto put his hands together and slammed his palms on the ground. "**Bracken Dance!" **

Bone spikes surrounded the team, and they braced themselves against them. The wind died out, and out appeared the team from Kusa.

Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened. They haven't sensed them at all!

The kunoichi of the team laughed. "Kukukuku… Impressive, such a use of bracken dance, I never seen it used like this in a while. You truly are Kushina Kaguya's son….kukuku…"

Naruto's eyes widened. "How…do you know my mother?" Both of the unknown teams were piqued by this.

The kunoichi waved off her teammates. And they vanished within the woods.

"Tell me, how do you know my mother? ANSWER ME!" Naruto demanded, his eyes turning red.

The kunoichi just grinned and charged at them with blinding speed, she went up and kick Naruto and the stomach, and combo'ed him into the tree trunk behind them. Naruto cracked the trunk and landed with a thud. "Naruto!!" Sasuke shouted.

Sasuke ran at the kunoichi with his sword, he pushed Sakura away as he slashed at the Kusa-nin; she just smiled and drew a kunai. They engaged in a one-sided fight with Sasuke getting kneed in the face, the Uchiha drew back, clenched his face as the kunoichi back handed him so hard, he flew into a tree trunk next to Naruto.

Sakura watched in horror, she spun around to come face to face with the odd kunoichi. All of the sudden, she witnessed different versions of her death, over and over. Sakura fell to the ground, unconscious.

Sasuke and Naruto looked up at the kunoichi and gritted their teeth. "This is no ordinary kunoichi…" Naruto said as he stood up, his hand bracing the tree.

Sasuke nodded as he stood up to, they watched as the kunoichi took the earth scroll from Sakura's pouch, and put it to her mouth and swallowed it whole. The boys looked in awe and disgust.

The kunoichi laughed again. "My name is Orochimaru." 'She' said, she touched 'her' headband and it turned to a music note, rather than the zigzags. She then ripped off her face, to reveal a man with pale skin and snake-like eyes.

The brothers immediately knew who it was; they just hoped that the other teams spying on them would help soon.

Orochimaru bit both his thumbs, and made handseals and shouted "Summoning Jutsu!" Two giant snakes appeared in a poof of smoke, and with a hiss, they both charged at the brothers.

Both of them jumped over the snakes, with a silent nod, they made handseals:

"**Futon: Whirlwind Fist!"**

"**Katon: Grand fireball Jutsu!"**

The wind strengthened the fire and engulfed the snakes. When they landed, they immediately charged at the snake Sanin, Sasuke went to grab Sakura as Naruto drew a two bone swords, He ran at Orochimaru and engaged him in a kenjutsu-taijutsu fight. Naruto stabbed, Orochimaru dodged. Naruto swiped, while the snake blocked with a kunai.

Naruto was getting frustrated, he kicked at Orochimaru's chest and used the momentum to flip back, he hopped lightly on his foot "**Genji Dance" **He rushed in at blurring speeds and spun around rapidly, Orochimaru getting struck, he was eventually launched into the air—the blond stopped and threw finger bullets and him, taking the snake higher, Naruto then jumped, his back facing Orochimaru's front. "The final blow!" He shouted and with a quick turn, he launched an array of bone spikes from his chest, Orochimaru was buried in them, Naruto landed and smirked at his handiwork.

The bones vanished into fine particles. Sasuke appeared next to Naruto, and smirked at him. They looked to see not blood, but mud.

"Shit!" They both shouted.

Out of the ground, Orochimaru appeared and punched Sasuke away, He grabbed Naruto by his neck and held him up, the snake sanin went closer to his ear.

"Do you want to know how I know your mother?"

Naruto was visibly shaking, sweat pouring down his body.

"I killed her, just after you were born…kukukukuku…"

--------------------

**A/N: ooooh! The plot thickens! Orochimaru turns out to be Kushina's killer. And don't ask why her last name is Kaguya, it's pretty damn obvious. And I hope I got Genji Dance right, It was the move Kimimaro uses in Ultimate Ninja Storm. Oh, and don't forget about the two mystery teams, they'll appear soon. And also…Oroachimaru is sooooo gonna pay for that.**


	22. Brawl of Death

**A/N: Yo, back yet again with chapter 22 of Son of the Kyuubi. Now then, on to the reader response, starting with this guy:**

**OnGuard: Alright you, don't you EVER insult my stories—so what I didn't run by the recent poll? Is that some excuse for you to flame my story? If you don't like it, the kindly stop reading this fic!**

**Narai Moroha: All will be explained soon and yes—I saw what Hinata does when she uses her special on Naruto in UNS XD. And you almost right when it comes to Sasuke's sword**

**Leaf Ranger: Yep, Orochimaru is screwed…**

**Trinity the Kitsune Kunoichi: I'll give those jutsu a go for in the later chapters.**

**Kyourimaru: Lol, just don't get carried away…**

**Snow Charms: Yes Orochimaru is!**

**A/N: Now let's get to it!**

**--------------------**

"_Ne, Otou-chan?" _

"_Yes, what is it, kit?"_

"_What was Okaa-chan like? Was she pretty? Did she smile a lot? And how did she…'dead'."_

"_Well…"_

--------------------

Naruto felt tears stream down his face, he clenched and un-clenched his fists—his inner rage building up. Naruto glances over to see Sasuke standing up, holding on to a scrape on his side. The blond looked dead ahead. He saw movement in the brush, but paid it no mind; he had only one thing on his mind right now:

_Oh this bastard is gonna pay…_

Orochimaru cackled at Naruto's expression, the snake the punched Naruto in the stomach while he was in his trance, knocking him out cold. Orochimaru tossed him to the side—he better not get side tracked after all he still had to give his gift to Sasuke-kun…

Sasuke was trying make sense of what he overheard. Orochimaru killed his best friends' mother? That's beyond low! Sasuke stood up shakily, holding on to _Uchiwa _for support.

Sasuke's Sharingan locked on to Orochimaru's gold, snake-like ones—and he rushed forward with a battle cry.

Sasuke swung his katana; Orochimaru simply sidestepped and aimed a quick jab to Sasuke's face. Using the Sharingan, the Uchiha blocked it and on impulse took his sword and swung it at Orochimaru's arm, cutting it.

The snake man stepped back, clenching the wound on his arm, he snickered at the boy. "Kukukuku…that's it…show me your anger…Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke rushed forward and landed a solid punch to Orochimaru's gut, the man grunted from the force—Sasuke stabbed Uchiwa on the ground and followed up with more punches and a kick sending the snake into the air. Sasuke then grabbed his legs and wrapped his own around Orochimaru's neck.

"Take this—**Falcon Drop!!"**

The snake's skull cracked as he landed on the rough earth below him, Sasuke backed up a bit and leaned against a tree, gasping for a breath. The boy noticed movement behind him, and Saw his teammate Sakura appear. Sasuke got up and dug into his pocket, he then tossed the real scrolls to her.

"S-Sasuke-kun…"

"Sakura. Go to the tower, get help from the ANBU, and lead them hear. Understood?"

"But Sasuke-kun! I'm not going to leave you two alone so you can fight that thing!"

"Sakura, just go!! Please, just go! We'll make it there as soon as we can!"

Sakura stared at him with widened eyes, she never saw Sasuke-kun so desperate before. Her eyes hardened and nodded. "Alright, but please, stay safe." And she hopped off to the tower.

When Sasuke turned forward he noticed he couldn't move. His eyes widened _Dammit! I got caught!_

Sasuke's eyes fixed on Orochimaru, who had his hands in a seal. "Kukuku…I've caught my prey…Kukuku…" Sasuke watched helplessly as the Sanin extended his neck, and aiming to bite Sasuke…

_CRUNCH!_

Sasuke's eyes widened. He looked at the person who saved him. "N-Neji…" He muttered. Sasuke noticed the Rock Lee guy and their female teammate standing as a shield to protect him. Neji took the bite for Sasuke. Orochimaru's eyes widened _Nooo!!_

When the snake pulled back, Neji grunted in pain and clutched the mark on his neck. It began to take the shape of three spikes pointing outwards. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Neji!" Tenten shouted, voice full of worry. Lee glared at the snake sanin.

"Fiend! What sort of unyouthful jutsu did you use on Neji!?"

Orochimaru put on a wicked smile. "Well that didn't go as planned. Oh well, I'll just try again…"

"Stop! Orochimaru!" Orochimaru turned to see someone he didn't expect to see.

"Kimimaro?" Orochimaru was stunned. Kimimaro was opposing him? Unbelievable. He noticed neither Tayuya nor Jirobo around, so he must've acted on his own.

"Orochimaru, you lied to me!" He shouted as he dashed towards him. Kimimaro swung his bone sword as Orochimaru jumped; he landed on a branch and glared down at the Kaguya.

"I'll make you suffer." Orochimaru hissed as he made a seal and all of the sudden, Kimimaro screeched in pain as the mark on his chest glowed a blood red. The pain was too much as he collapsed on the ground.

"Kimimaro-san!" Lee shouted as he ran to help this stranger, Orochimaru used this opportunity to jump down and punch Lee across the face—the Leaf genin was sent sprawling to the ground. Tenten looked on, horrified. Her body couldn't move an inch.

Sasuke was still paralyzed, he was hoping for Kimimaro or Lee (Sasuke doesn't know that Lee can't perform jutsu) could dispel the jutsu. Sasuke glanced over at the girl with the buns in her hair to see she's frozen stiff. Sasuke cursed.

Orochimaru made some hand seals "Now let's try this again…" The snake grabbed the Uchiha by his collar and held him up as he sunk his teeth into him—Sasuke screamed as the curse seal of heaven formed on his neck. Orochimaru dropped him—he landed with a thud.

"**Sasuke!!" **Orochimaru went wide eyed as a burst of chakra appeared. Tenten was overwhelmed by the pressure the chakra emitted and passed out. Naruto emerged from his unconsciousness, red chakra forming a fox-like cloak around his body, a bone tail sprouted from his backside, a white mask formed on his face—the white mass followed down his neck and created a 'hole' in his chest. You could see the boy was crying.

Orochimaru chuckled _This anger…It reminds me of Kushina…kukuku…_ The snake man laughed out loud. "Now that I've done my deed, I no longer have to hold back!" Orochimaru spat out a snake from his mouth, and that snake spat out the legendary Kusanagi.

Naruto glared at the sword a created a bone sword of his own.

The two combatants charged with a battle cry.

--------------------

Sakura dashed towards the tower, but she felt like she was running in circles until she realized _Genjutsu! _ With a resounding 'release' the genjutsu fizzled out to reveal the other Oto-genin, Dosu Kin and Zaku.

"Well, well, well. It's just a little girl! We're so gonna kick ass!" Zaku said with a smirk. Sakura stopped in her tracks.

The pinkette glared. _I don't have time for this! Naruto and Sasuke-kun are…_ She was blown literally from her thoughts as an air cannon sent her to a tree trunk—courtesy of Zaku.

Sakura shakingly got up and glared. "Damn you! **Genjutsu: Infinite Darkness!" **The team from Oto was surrounded by an inky black darkness.

Dosu narrowed his eye "All right, what is this little girl playing at? Kin! Dispel the genjutsu!"

Dosu heard nothing. "Kin! Dispel it, now!"

Dosu heard the cry of "**Chakra Scalpel!" **And then a thud. Dosu looked around to find where that came from, until he felt someone strike his legs, Dosu lost control of them and fell over.

Over with Zaku, the boy kept blasting his air cannons whenever he heard something move, until he felt his arms go limp, followed by a kick to his back; Zaku fell with a thud.

The darkness dissipated, and there standing was a triumphant Sakura, grinning that she disabled them—she said nothing as she ran off to the tower, not even considering Naruto's words.

--------------------

Naruto swiped a claw at Orochimaru, he missed and the snaked stabbed at him—the blond jumped back and huffed. They've been fighting for an hour, he looked to see Tenten and Lee—who have regained consciousness—where watching over the injured and unconscious Kimimaro, Neji, and Sasuke.

Naruto had no choice but to use it. **"Shadow Clone Jutsu" **He muttered as a group of clones appeared, the clones only had red eyes and darkened whiskers, he sent them after the snake as he brought out his right hand—a swirling mass of red chakra appeared. Lee and Tenten looked on in awe.

Orochimaru dispatched the clones quickly and charged, Kusanagi poised to kill—he didn't see Naruto charge forward.

"**Take this—Rasengan!" **The sanin's eyes widened as this brat got him with a powerful jutsu—created by that meddling Yondaime!

Orochimaru shouted a fit of curses as he was sent spiraling through the forest. **"You're not getting away!" **Naruto followed the path of the Rasengan, and came across an Orochimaru on the ground, with a shocked expression on his features. Naruto roared and began punching him in the face, over and over again. Minutes later Naruto finally ran out of steam, he noticed that the chakra cloak finally vanished, and went wide eyed as Orochimaru turned out to be a mud-clone. The blond howled and began to sob—his bone mask and tail broke.

--------------------

A group of ANBU led by Anko Mitarashi, featuring their medic—Haku arrived on the scene. Lee and Tenten told how Orochimaru appeared and bit Sasuke and Neji—Haku gasped and went right t work on Sasuke. Anko noticed Kimimaro regaining consciousness. Kimimaro then told Anko that he needs to talk to them—but first they had to get Naruto. Anko found him a few yards away; he was looking at the ground with dead eyes.

Anko assembled them together. "You're teams automatically pass. You can follow the ANBU straight to the tower." The group nodded. Anko turns to Kimimaro. "Kimimaro—was it? We'll talk with the Sandaime tomorrow; everyone's been through a lot today."

Kimimaro nodded.

_Sasuke's dreamscape_

Sasuke looked all around him, carnage everywhere. His fellow Uchiha—dead.

_This shouldn't have happened… _

Sasuke ran to see his mother killed by Fugaku.

_They shouldn't have died…_

Sasuke turned around to see a younger version of himself crying. All of the sudden, the crying stopped.

"You let them die…" he muttered, Sasuke gasped as he looked at him with snake-like eyes.

"You let them die!" He repeated.

Sasuke shook his head. "No! I didn't let them die! If I had the power to do so, I would've stopped Fugaku!"

The child Sasuke laughed. "Power…with power we can do lots of things…with power we can extract revenge against Fugaku!"

Older Sasuke gritted his teeth. He then smirked. "Hn, I don't need revenge. I don't need you're power!" He threw a kunai at the Younger Sasuke, and watched as the Younger Sasuke shattered into pieces as the weapon came into contact. Sasuke had a satisfactory smile on his face—and went to dreaming about a certain girl…

_Neji's dreamscape_

Neji watched as his father was offered up to Kumogakure. Neji closed his eyes and let rare tears escape them. _I'd do anything to make Hiashi pay…_

"You want vengeance? No…_we _want vengeance." Neji turned around to see a younger version of him, staring at him with yellow snake-like eyes.

Older Neji could only nod sheepishly. "…Yes. I want revenge against the Hyuga and Hiashi. They offered my father to those Kumo dogs against his will! I need the power to kill him!"

Younger Neji cackled. "If it's power you want, power you shall get!"

Black markings surrounded the Hyuga. Neji had a wicked grin on his face.

--------------------

**A/N: Sasuke rejected power while Neji accepted it… man! Kimimaro now has to talk with the Sandaime and Anko about who-knows-what. And we still don't know why Orochimaru killed Kushina! Hopefully it'll all be answered next time on Son of the Kyuubi!**


	23. Nightmarish Recovery

**A/N: Oi! Here's the newest chapter of Son of the Kyuubi! From this point on, the main storyline kicks off! This point is where we distance ourselves from canon. We'll still follow the arcs, but they won't happen the way it was in canon…**

**No, onto the reader response:**

**Narai Moroha: Hehe, thanks!**

**Tachi-chihime: I can't spoil it X3. Yep, the bone mask, hole, and tail are from Bleach. O.o I'll be sure Itachi survives another battle.**

**Leaf Ranger: Oro and Akatsuki are the main baddies for a while, after them, I can't tell.**

**Redwiritingbaron: Yes, but Orochimaru is stronger than any Hyuga, and let's not forget his legendary status. And in canon, Neji expressed a hatred of the Hyuga Clan, if he didn't he wouldn't stomped on Hinata.**

**MissNaye: Sasuke's seal is active and it will stay on him.**

**Chewie Cookies: I have over 200 favorite stories. X3**

**Ahem, on with the show!**

**--------------------**

Sasuke was falling, falling in the darkness. His whole body surrounded by inky black water.

_Sasuke…_

He opened his eyes half way. _Is someone calling me?_

_Sasuke…_

Sasuke's eyes opened, it was Haku!

Sasuke looked up, down, left, right; he couldn't pin-point where the voice came from.

_Sasuke…! _

He turned behind him to see a glimmering light. On instinct he swam towards it.

When Sasuke reached it, it felt as if something was blocking his way, he pushed through.

"S-Sasuke...?"

Sasuke's face turned into shock and horror as he popped out of Haku's stomach…

--------------------

"AAAAAHHH!!!"

"Sasuke-kun!!" Haku was in Sasuke's hospital room, she was nodding off as she was watching his peaceful form, his bloody-murder scream snapped her awake. The concerned girl rushed over to the Uchiha's bedside to see his eyes squeezed shut, panting, sweat on his face.

The door swung open and a medic-nin rushed in. "Is he ok?" He asked her.

"I'm… (pant) fine (pant) it was just (pant) a bad dream." Sasuke said reassuringly, opening up one eye.

Sasuke shakily got up into a sitting position, Haku took his pillow and propped it against his back, Sasuke smiled weakly at her.

The three in the room soon heard a lot of foot steps, out of the door came Team 7, Hinata, and Kakashi as well.

"Sasuke!" Naruto ran over to him, Sasuke and Naruto gave each other high fives. "I see you're awake now, eh?" Sasuke smirked and nodded; Sasuke turned and got a gentle hug from his older brother.

"I heard what happened. I'm proud of you." He whispered.

Sasuke's eyes widened, he looked down and smiled.

Hinata ran up and hugged him too, Sakura meanwhile watched from afar. She felt like she didn't belong, with them, _With Sasuke-kun…_

Sasuke looked to see Kakashi staring at him. "You must Kakashi Hatake." He said simply.

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, I was in your teams' scrolls, I'm here to tell you that you've passed. The next portion of the exam will be in two days. Will you be able to recover then?" Kakashi's eye pointed towards the medic nin. The medic nodded. Sasuke smirked. Kakashi then turned around. "Well that's good to here. I'll let Hokage-sama know…" With a wave, he left the room.

"Sorry, but only Sasuke-sama's family is allowed to stay, the rest of you are to leave." The Medic said.

With that, Sakura, Hinata, and Haku left. Naruto called out them. "See you girls later!"

--------------------

Tenten was sitting in her chair backwards as she watched Neji slumber. It was the middle of the third day in the chunin exams. A lot was on her mind right now, mainly those Naruto and Kimimaro guys. She witnessed them both do the same thing, they both pulled bones out of their bodies and made weapons out of them. In her eyes, it was fascinating.

Her ears perked when she heard a grunt. She looked up with a smile. "Neji, you're—N-Neji?!" Her eyes widened at what she saw.

Neji had black pointed tattoo-like marks around his body, an ominous purple chakra surrounding his form, and what scared her most was the insane look in his eyes.

--------------------

Hinata, Haku, and Sakura all walked down the hallway of the tower, they were prepared to go to their rooms and rest.

"Really Hinata? That's what happened? I can't believe Ino would do something like that!" Haku said, mildly surprised that Ino would try and ruin her and Naruto's date.

Hinata nodded. "She claims that she saw a spider, her lies are as fake as her nails."

Sakura snorted. "Hmph, that sounds definitely something that Ino-pig would do."

"But why did Ino-san do it?" Haku asked, curious.

"It's because Ino has had the hots for Naruto since academy days. She didn't look at any other boy except Naruto. Her lust for him grew as we got older. And she sees Hinata as an obstacle." Sakura explained.

"So basically she sees Naruto-kun as an ideal and not a person." Haku thought out loud.

"An ideal?" Hinata thought. Haku proceeded to stop, so did Hinata and Sakura.

"An ideal is something that you know you'll never have, and yet you still seek it. In this case, Naruto is the ideal. I'm pretty sure Naruto-kun had more than just one fangirl. They all see Naruto as what they want in a boyfriend. The ideal boy. So they proceed to chase after him, knowing that they'll never be his."

Hinata looked surprised at the older girls' wisdom, she nodded. Sakura thought on to what Haku said. _Do I treat Sasuke-kun like that? An…Ideal?_

_--------------------_

The night of the last day…

"Ah, Anko-san. The Hokage will see you now." The ANBU at the door said.

Anko nodded. "Ok, Kimimaro, let's go."

Sarutobi took al long smoke from his pipe, digesting everything that Anko and Kimimaro told him.

Sarutobi looked dead at them. "At moments like these, I would cancel the chunin exams. But that won't be possible, will it Kimimaro-kun?"

Kimimaro shook his head. "No, Orochimaru won't hold back if you were to cancel it…"

Sarutobi took the time to apprise the boy who was in front of his desk. The boy was laughably thin, but quite tall for his age. But most of all, he was Naruto's cousin. Another Heir to the Shikotsumyaku. With this knowledge, the kekkei-genkai has a better chance of survival. Also, the boy was raised in a cage most of his life and on top of that—he served Orochimaru. But noticing his body language—he seems down to earth and very sincere.

"Kimimaro-kun, I understand your being hunted by Orochimaru, isn't that right?"

The boy nodded. "Well, I'll have one of my best jonin look after you."

There was a knock on the door. "You called me, Hokage-sama?"

Anko's eyes widened. "You can't be serious…him?"

--------------------

The day of the prelims…

All the genin who completed the exams were front and center. In front of them were the Hokage, the jonin sensei, and a man with bandages on his face, and a giant sword.

Hiruzen stepped forward. "Congratulations for all who passed. Now I'm pretty sure some of you are wondering why this exam takes place twice a year."

Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Shino, Hinata, Haku (who was listening in with the sensei's) and a few others were wondering that as well.

"Well that's easy, to become chunin!" Zaku said, both of his arms were bandaged.

Sandaime shook his head. "While that's the ultimate goal of the exams. That's not the purpose…."

(**A/N: I'm skipping the explanation)**

"…Now, onto the rules." He started, until the sword wielding man stepped forward.

"Allow me, Zabuza Momochi, to explain this portion of the exams." He said.

"Ok, listen up. There are too many of guys, so we'll have to a preliminary round." Some of the genin griped.

"Shut the hell up! Anyway, there are too many of you. The prelims are fought one on one; you can't get help from any of your allies. And killing is allowed, but if you don't want to die, give up before that happens. Now, do any of you want to give up right now?"

Naruto snorted, like anyone was gonna give up. His eyes widened when Kimimaro's teammates, Tayuya and Jirobo, and that mummy looking sound guy gave raised their hands, along with Kabuto.

_Kabuto-kun? _Sakura thought, puzzled as to why he would give up.

Zabuza looked at them with a critical eye, each one was pretty banged up, and so he just shrugged. "Alright, you four can wait in your rooms for your senseis too arrive." He said.

"Now then, your names and your opponents' will be displayed on this screen at random, pay attention to it."

The genin watched as the screen came to life, the names flashed until they stopped at two

_Sasuke Uchiha_

_v_

_Yoroi Akado_

Zabuza looked up at the names. "Will everyone except Sasuke and Yoroi go up the stairs?"

Everyone nodded, while Sasuke's friends wished him good luck, Haku strode up to him. "Good luck, Sasuke-kun." She said a she pecked him on the cheek. Sasuke's face turned red as Haku giggled and walked up the stairs.

The Uchiha heir turned to face his opponent. Yoroi was easily twice his age. Sasuke drew his katana and got into a kenjutsu stance.

Yoroi smirked under the cloth over his mouth. "Tis a shame I have to knock you out so early." He said.

Sasuke snorted. "You? Knock me out? Ha, don't make me laugh." He said as he pointed his finger at Yoroi

Zabuza raised his hand. "Sento Kaishi! (Begin Combat)!"

--------------------

**A/N: So that's it for this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it! Because I'm in such a good mood I'll tell you the working titles of the next chapters:**

**Chapter 24-Kicking things off**

**Chapter 25-No match**

**Chapter 26-A valiant effort**

**Chapter 27-Team 7…Forever…**

**Also, if you can guess what I used as a basis for Sasuke's nightmare, you get a virtual muffin!  
**


	24. Kicking Things Off

**A/N: Hey, I'm back with another chapter of Son of the Kyuubi! Sasuke's dream in the previous chapter was inspired by Soul's nightmare in the anime Soul Eater. You should all watch it, you'll love it! On to reader response:**

**SnowCharms: Yes, I feel sorry for Tenten as well.**

**RasenganFin: You know he does…**

**Narai Moroha: Thanks!**

**Hyurei-misudo: Not by a long shot!**

**--------------------**

"Ok, Sento Kaishi!"

Sasuke charged forward, sword poised to kill; Yoroi looked on as if Sasuke was retarded.

"Fool!" The older genin rushed forward, his hand began to glow blue, He took several jabs to the younger genin—Sasuke dodged them with ease.

Yoroi jumped back after Sasuke took a swing at him, the older genin saw Sasuke charge forward again, aiming to stab him. Yoroi smirked and ducked in time, grabbed Sasuke's arm, and stuck him in the chest. Sasuke grunted in pain, and Yoroi grabbed him by his head and tossed him down to the ground.

"Ngh, what's going on…? My chakra…." Sasuke said, sounding drained.

"It's a special jutsu of mine that drains my opponents' chakra. And you've just run out." Yoroi smirked triumphantly as Sasuke tried to grab his arm. Yoroi tossed the boy into the air, grabbed a kunai—jumped and stabbed him the chest.

Sasuke's eyes widened as blood came from his mouth. Yoroi smirked triumphantly and let go of kunai.

When he landed, he noticed that Sasuke's form was still. He looked around to see everything has frozen in place.

_What the…Genjutsu?_

Yoroi looked up to see 'Sasuke' vanish into a flock of crows. The crows all circled around the arena—Yoroi looked around, trying to figure out what was going on.

"**Summoning Genjutsu: Ephemeral**"

The older genins' eyes widened when some crows grouped together in the sky and r-created Sasuke, he hand his hands in the rat seal.

"How…How did I get caught in this Genjutsu!?" Yoroi demanded.

Sasuke smirked. "Genjutsu can be initiated in many ways. My clan specializes in this field. But we usually use our Sharingan to activate them."

"But you didn't even activate your Sharingan! How did you do it?"

Sasuke's smirk grew wider. "But there is also another way; very few people know the fact that Genjutsu can be put into play by a simple point of a finger…"

Yoroi tried to register what he said. His eyes widened. "You mean—"

"Yup, when I pointed at you before the match. You were under my Genjutsu even then…"

Outside the Genjutsu, the onlookers look on in shock, surprise, indifference, and pride.

Kurenai, being a Genjutsu mistress, knew all about this type of Genjutsu. It was the most effective and deadliest to be used.

"Kurenai-sensei."

Kurenai turned to see Shino looking up at her. It was odd for Shino to speak up, so it must be important. "Yes, what is it?"

Shino looked down to see Yoroi facing his back to Sasuke, and Sasuke with a crow on his shoulder and his hands in a seal. "Can you explain to us how this kind of genjutsu works?" Kiba also listened in, and so did Hinata.

Kurenai looked forward at the battle. "Well, this type of Genjutsu can be initiated by simply pointing at the target. But this one is special, since it is a summoning Genjutsu. Rare, but not unheard of."

"How do we dispel it?" Shino asked again.

"When you're fighting someone who can use this Genjutsu, the best thing to do is to run away."

Team 8's eyes widened.

"You can't be serious!?" Kiba yelled.

"Believe me. However, if you are with your allies, you can take him or her on. This Genjutsu targets one person, the other ally has to inject his/her chakra into the one trapped in the Genjutsu, which will dispel it."

Team 8 looked on at the battle. Kiba gulped. _Man, Sasuke is dangerous…_

Inside the Genjutsu…

"Sorosoro (any word revolving around 'well), It's time for you to be put to sleep." Sasuke said as he made the ram seal, the crows circling him transformed into black fuma shuriken, and rushed towards Yoroi.

Outside the Genjutsu, Yoroi looked like he was flailing around.

_Now…! _Sasuke thought as he rushed forward, he sent a kick to Yoroi's chin, and used the Shadow Leaf Dance to get behind him.

"Guy-sensei! Look, it's—"

"Yeah, I know, Lee."

Sasuke then delivered a combo, as they were sent falling, Sasuke delivered a powerful kick. "Lights out, **Shishi Rendan!"**

The kick was so powerful it brought up the tiles on the ground. Sasuke got up, and smirked at the crow that was cawing overhead.

Zabuza shook his head. "Sheesh… Shousa (Winner)! Sasuke Uchiha!"

Sasuke raised his arms in victory. "Yes!!" Sasuke's Team, Hinata, and Haku went down to congratulate him.

"Nice one Sasuke! The old dude didn't know what hit 'im!" Naruto said as he slapped Sasuke's back a little too hard, causing him to collide with Haku and kiss her on the lips!

Everyone's eyes widened to dinner plates as Sasuke was seen lip-locking with the older girl.

Itachi snickered strangely like a weasel and pulled out a camera out of nowhere and took a picture.

Hinata looked over to Itachi. "Anoo, what was that for?"

Itachi continued to snicker like the weasel he is. "Hinata, I'll have to get Kurenai to explain the fundamentals of 'Blackmail…'"

When their lips pulled apart. Sasuke was dazed for a second; he could still feel her soft lips on his. His shook his head and blushed. "Ah, Haku-chan I didn't mean to…I'm Sorry!" He spat out.

Haku also shook herself from her trance. She blushed and fiddled with her hair. "I-It's all right, I mean…It was an accident, right?"

Sasuke nodded heartily, he didn't want to lose his friendship with his crush.

"Ok good, then let's just leave this incident behind us, 'kay?" She said sweetly.

Sasuke scratched the back of his nervously. "Yeah, let's."

"Oi! You love-birds get out of the arena! We have to continue the exams." Zabuza shouted, looking irate while on the inside he was grinning like a maniac.

"Sorry, my bad." Sasuke said as he jumped on to the balcony. As he did, he was onslaughted (a/n: Is that even a word?) by Kiba, Choji, Zaku, and Kankuro.

"So how was it?"

"Is she a good kisser?"

"I saw some tongue! Did you enjoy it?"

Sasuke laughed nervously.

He looked to see Haku being asked the same questions.

--------------------

"What do you think, Old Man?" Yokoumaru asked from the Hokage's box.

"You mean the kiss? Then Sasuke has found quite the lucky woman."

Yokoumaru crossed his arms and smirked. "Yes…And also what do you think about the match?"

Sandaime shifted his hat down. "Sasuke's skills are beyond chunin, but not quite jonin. But we'll see…"

Orochimaru chuckled at the match. Yoroi got too confident. Orochimaru was ecstatic behind his disguise; his vessel was doing well, despite him trying to trigger the Curse Seal.

--------------------

_Ino Yamanaka_

_v_

_Hinata Hyuga_

"Do your best Hina-chan!!" Naruto called to her. Hinata turned and waved back at him as she made her way downstairs, she noticed Ino at the adjacent stairs. She gave her a small glare.

As the two kunoichi stood facing each other, Zabuza looked at each of them. Ino looked cocky while Hinata looked calm.

"All right, you two know the rules. Sento Kaishi!"

Ino decided to talk smack. "You can bring it on, your just gonna lose. I've been training extra hard for this match (lie) so Naruto-kun can be mine!"

Hinata smirked and got into a Jyuken stance. "Are you going to shoot your mouth off, or are you going to bring the pain?" She asked, using her favorite line from a manga she read.

"Oh am I _soo_ gonna bring the pain!" Ino replied. Meanwhile, a certain someone in Amegakure sneezed.

Ino drew a kunai and charged, she was prepared to stab Hinata, but the Hyuga heiress grabbed the kunai with her bare hands, while Ino was bewildered—Hinata sent a Jyuken strike to her chest. Sadly, Ino jumped back at the last moment.

"Whoo! Go Hina-chan!!" Naruto shouted from the stands. Hinata looked over her shoulder and blushed. Meanwhile Ino was getting ticked off. Why does Naruto cheer her on!?

Ino decided to dumbly engage Hinata in a taijutsu fight. Ino punched, Hinata ducked, the blond kicked, the heiress gracefully dodged. Everyone saw how the match was getting one-sided, and fast.

When the heiress saw an opening, Hinata sent a powered Jyuken strike to Ino's stomach. Ino's eyes went wide a blood leaked from her mouth; the blond girl fell to the ground.

"Ino-san, you should give up." Hinata said politely.

Ino took Hinata's shin as support as she struggled to get up. "I…won't give UP!!" She shouted as she stood and jumped back. She crouched down and made a hand seal. **"Mind Transfer Jutsu!"**

"Ino!" Asuma shouted, but it was too late as Ino already performed the jutsu.

Shikamaru shook his head. _Troublesome..._

--------------------

(Hinata's mind)

Ino walked around in Hinata's mind, looking for the central control. Hinata's mindscape was a wealthy two story family styled house. The inside of the home was plain white.

Ino opened up a door that looked to be a bedroom, when she walked in, she noticed it was a child's room. _Could this be Hinata's room?_ Ino asked herself as looked around.

It wasn't Hinata's room.

Ino noticed a lone picture on the nightstand. She walked up to it and looked at it. There was a photo of a man with spiky blond hair, blue eyes, whisker -like marks on his cheeks, wearing a red coat, with a little boy with spiky midnight blue hair, pale skin, blue eyes, two red dots on his forehead, and three whisker-like marks on his cheeks. The boy had his arms resting on top of the man's head, his legs dangling over the man's shoulders. The boy wore a smile similar to the man. The woman in the picture was beautiful with long midnight blue hair and lavender eyes. She had pale skin, and wore a lavender kimono.

The picture was a family photo…of Naruto and Hinata.

Ino dropped the picture in shock, and ran out of the room. She slammed the door and leaned against the wall. The shook her fist and gritted her teeth. She then ran down the hallway and opened another door. This one lead to another bedroom.

Ino's eyes widened. It was the master bedroom. She stalked in with dread on her features. And noticed an open closet, the girl peered in, and noticed a lavender kimono and a red trench-coat with black flames on the bottom.

Ino screamed.

--------------------

Back in the real world, a good 5 seconds passed as Ino's body was blown back against the wall. Hinata's blank stare faded as she shook her head. She was made that Ino invaded her personal thoughts.

Hinata walked up to Ino to see her on her hands and knees, glaring up at her.

"I just don't get it, why do you do this to me?" Ino asked.

Hinata leaned over and whispered in her ear. "I love him, that's why. Ino, let me asked you, do you really love Naruto-kun?"

Ino tried to speak, but couldn't; she couldn't find an answer to Hinata's question.

"I… don't know, I-I saw him as the ideal boyfriend…I…"

Hinata smiled softly, and hugged the girl. "It's ok; Naruto-kun is an amazing person, because he loves me, too. Ino, you'll find someone one day. I know it." She said. Ino put her head down on Hinata's shoulder.

Zabuza looked on, impressed. "Shousa, Hinata Hyuga!"

Naruto and team 8 went down to congratulate Hinata. Kurenai put a hand on Hinata's shoulder after she rose back up. "You did a great job, Hinata. I'm proud of you." Kurenai said.

When Kurenai was done, Naruto preceded to glomp her. "Hina-chan! Good job on your fight!" He shouted. Hinata blushed and returned the hug.

Ino looked on at a crouching position with a sad smile. _You win, Hinata._ She looked to see a hand extended to her. She looked up. "Kiba?" She asked.

Kiba had his hand extended out to _her? _"It's not what you think; I'm just helping you out." He said. "You might've lost Naruto, but _I _won't lose Hina-chan."

Ino smirked. "Sure, sure." She said as she took his hand. Ino noticed her team making their way to her.

"Ino, are you ok?" Choji asked as he went over to her.

"I'll be fine, albeit my pride hurts a little."

Asuma smiled and took a smoke from his cigarette. "Alright, I'm going to get the medics to look after you anyway." He said as he, Shikamaru, and Choji walked off.

"Um…Ino?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah?"

"Can you let go of my hand?"

Ino blushed and let go.

--------------------

The next matches went by quick:

In Zaku v Shino, Shino used his kikaichu to get Zaku to blow his arms off with his own weapon.

In Shikamaru v Kin. Shikamaru used his smarts to win

In Temari v Choji, Choji was easily out classed by the wind user.

In Kankuro v Misumi, Kankuro used his puppet arts to win.

"The next match…" Zabuza started. The computer screen came to life.

_Kimimaro Kaguya_

_v_

_Rock Lee_

**A/N: Yosh! That was a pretty long chapter, wasn't it? Anyway, next battle is Kimi versus Lee! Who will win? Who will lose? What do you think of the matches so far? Cya next time!**

**Team Profiles: Team 8**

**Kurenai Yuhi: Kurenai is the sensei of team 8. She's also one of the best Genjutsu users in Konoha. And it's no secret she has a crush on Yokoumaru.**

**Hinata Hyuga: The heiress of the Hyuga clan. Hinata is one of the strongest females in the clan, thanks to the training her father gave her. Even so, she still remains shy, quiet and humble about her abilities. She's now fallen in love with Naruto Uzumaki, and hopes he can return it.**

**Shino Aburame: The heir to the Aburame clan. Cool, calm, collected. Shino makes the ideal team leader. He's also the peace maker of the group whenever Kiba gets out of hand. It is rumored Shino has a special jutsu to stop Kiba's antics called the 'Direct Noggin Shino Chop'**

**Kiba Inuzuka: A descendant of the Inuzuka clan. He's loud, brash, and doesn't know how to treat a lady. He always badgers Hinata into dating him, which results in a 'Direct Noggin Shino Chop'. His enemy is Naruto Uzumaki**


	25. No Match

_Kimimaro Kaguya_

_v_

_Rock Lee_

"YOSH! GUY-SENSEI! IT'S SEEMS IT'S MY TURN TO FIGHT!!!" Lee shouted with much enthusiasm.

"MY YOUTHFUL STUDENT! IT'S TIME TO SHOW OFF YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH!!!" Guy replied with as much gusto as Lee

"YES, GUY-SENEI!!!"

"LEE!!!"

"GUY-SENSEI!!!"

"LEE!!"

"GUY-SENSEI!!!"

"Don't you two start!" Tenten shouted to them, everyone _really _didn't want to see what they were about to do. While the bun-haired girl ordered Lee around, Neji leaned back against the wall, arms crossed. Occasionally scratching his neck where the bite had been. The Hyuga looked deprived of sleep, and a sleep deprived Hyuga is not what you want to come across. Neji decided to close his eyes as Lee walked passed him.

Kimimaro watched the scene between that sensei and his mini-me, Kimi thought this was a joke. Are these clowns actually serious? He noticed Rock Lee walk down the steps and stop in front of him.

Zabuza darted his eyes at both of them. "You know the rules; Sento Kaishi!!"

Rock Lee got into a taijutsu stance, Kimimaro stood there, with an impassive look on his features. Then, he finally spoke up. "Before we begin Lee, I have a question for you."

Lee was confused. "A question?" He said, sub-consciously tightening his stance.

Kimimaro nodded slightly. "What is your dream?"

"To be a Taijutsu master!" Lee replied.

Kimimaro shook his head. "A foolish dream…" He said.

Lee felt a bruise to his pride. "What do you mean 'A foolish dream?' he asked."

Kimimaro held out his arms. "If you win, I'll tell you."

That's when Lee charged at him with great speed, you could tell Kimimaro was mildly impressed. "I won't have you call me dream foolish! **Leaf Hurricane!" **Lee executed his powerful kick to the older genin's head, Kimimaro lazily held up an arm to block.

Everyone heard the shockwave it caused, since Lee was coming in fast, plus he had weights on, everyone expected that Kimimaro would dodge—but block?

Naruto looked on amazed. "Sugoi (Amazing)…" He muttered. He knew exactly what Kimimaro was doing. Tenten looked worried, something wasn't right…

Kimimaro looked at Lee's shocked expression. "Surprised?" Kimimaro spun on his left foot and delivered a painful kick to Lee with his right, the bowl-cut by skidded on the ground.

(Play **Zetsubo Billy** by Maximum the Hormone)

It was the Kaguya's turn to attack. To everyone's surprise, Kimimaro pulled out two bone swords from his shoulders and started taking swings and stabs at Lee, the spandex genin dodged, countered, and eventually found an opening and sent a powerful punch to Kimi's gut, but the older genin anticipated this and bone's stuck out of his chest to create a guard from the blow.

Lee hopped back and began to nurse his injured hand. _Those bones must be stronger than steel…_

Kimimaro was lightly bouncing on one foot. "You should give up; this was a horrible match-up. You can't stand a chance against my Kekkei Genkai."

"Never!" Lee said as rushed forward again.

--------------------

Up in the balcony, Tenten looked on as Kimimaro created bone spikes on his limbs, amazed at the different weapons he could make with his bones. The girl looked over to see her sensei with a serious face on, something she never saw before.

_Then that must be, Lee really is no match…_

--------------------

Lee was suckered punched by a bone-enhanced punch to the face. The blow sent him to the ground yet again. Kimimaro held out his palm as a bone spike rose from it. "You should stop holding back." Kimimaro said with his usual monotone.

"Lee!" Guy said from the balcony. "Take them off!"

Lee looked up as he wiped some blood from his cheek. "Right!" Lee hopped on the giant hand seal statue and pulled out waits from his arm warmers.

Temari looked at this and scoffed. Team 7 and 8 was looked on with interest. Kankuro wasn't paying attention, and Gaara kept his gaze on Kimimaro. _Mother would enjoy your blood. _

"Now that feels a lot better!" Lee said as he dropped the weights, creating _craters _in the ground below.

Almost everyone in the balcony gawked. Sasuke turned to his older brother. "Is it even possible to have those weights on?" Itachi shrugged.

Kimimaro looked impressed. "Oh…this should be entertaining." He said, his forgotten smile beginning to form.

Orochimaru frowned when he saw a smile form on Kimimaro's face. This boy was unstoppable when he was healthy, now that disease claimed most of his bodily functions. It's the sheer will of his spirit that allows him to move. Now he's smiling. The last time he smiled left Kabuto hospitalized for 4 months.

When Lee vanished from existence, Kimimaro went wide eyed at the sheer speed. He felt an unknown pain to his chin, and he was sent flying in the air. Lee appeared behind him. "Does this impress you? How about this—**Primary Lotus!!"**

Kimimaro landed in heap on the ground. Lee landed on his feet, looked slightly drained. Everyone looked on, to see if the match was over. And they got a shock as Kimimaro slowly stood.

Lee look on with widened eyes as Kimi rose up and dusted off his pants. "Tis a shame." He started. "If it weren't for my kekkei genkai, and my disease which makes me feel no pain in most parts of my body, I would be unconscious. Other than that, your Taijutsu attack hurts."

Lee was shocked, it did almost no effect! He had no choice but to open the gates…

Naruto was proud that his older relative showed such mastery of the Shikotsumyaku. But what had him worried was this 'disease' Kimimaro said.

"I see… So that's why nothing works on you. Well then, I'll have to go all out!!" Lee shouted. Lee crossed his arms and began opening the chakra gates, one by one.

Kimimaro sensed a huge influx of chakra coming him. He immediately hardened his bones—it's better safe than sorry.

"The fifth gate, OPEN!!!" Lee's complexion became red, with veins sticking out of his forehead. His hair stood on end, and his eyes lost its pupils.

Almost before Kimimaro could react, Lee appeared before him and delivered and punch to his face, the punch was so powerful it sends him skidding on the ground. Kimimaro raised his head to see orange—and then the ceiling. Lee began to deliver a bombardment of blows too fast for the non-jonin (and Sharingan) eyes. Everyone watched as Lee delivered the final blow. "**Hidden Lotus!!"** And a powerful punch to Kimi's gut ended it.

After the dust settled, Lee was still in his Taijutsu stance, his hands shattered from punching Kimi's diamond hard body over and over, he was too exhausted to react as a bone wiped grappled around him.

"What in the—" The bowl cut genin didn't finish as he was sent twirling in air, and tossed.

"**Clematis Dance: Vine!" **Kimimaro emerged from this dust, A drill of sorts forming on his left arm. Kimimaro launched himself into the air and hovered over Lee. "**Clematis Dane: Flower!!!"** The bone drill struck Lee in the stomach, the boy gasped as he was sent to the ground.

Kimimaro landed, winded. Lee was unconscious. "Proctor, the match is over." Kimimaro said.

Zabuza nodded. "The winner is Kimi—"

"Not…so…F-fast…" Everyone gasped as Lee rose up, his torso was bleeding, and blood was dripping to the ground.

"Lee!!" Kimimaro watched as that kid's sensei appeared. Guy put his hand on his shoulders. And embraced Lee into a hug. "You're a great ninja, Lee." He said as he began to cry.

Zabuza sighed. "The winner is…Kimimaro." The older genin nodded and was about to leave when he said. "I have two things to say: one, Lee will be fine, just fix up those injuries. And two: Can someone get my pills?" At that, he began to walk upstairs.

Tenten sighed, relived that the match was over. It was just getting to intense in her opinion.

The Hokage watched the match with a sense of pride, he was proud about how strong the younger generation has become. He'd best not let them surpass him! Yokoumaru leaned against the wall. "Sheesh, Kushina and her relatives…"

Sandaime turned to the demon lord. "Be glad that his sanity is intact. It's a shame that only the hybrid Kaguya lose the insanity gene." He replied as he took a smoke from his pipe.

--------------------

"The next match." Zabuza started:

_Tenten_

_v_

_Neji Hyuga_

Hinata gasped. Her cousin was fighting his own teammate! Hinata knew how Neji's anger for the Hyuga made him strong. And because of that anger, he became rookie of the year.

Sasuke was worried, he saw Neji take the bite for him at the Forest of Death, and get the curse seal. Sasuke lightly tapped his own, while mentally suppressing it.

Tenten's expression was of shock and fear. Shock because she was no match against him, and fear because of the weird hickey on his neck. When Neji saw the matchup, he smirked deviously.

"Are you coming, Tenten_-chan?_"

The bun haired girl had to calm her breathing as she felt his hot breath roll down her neck. She gulped and followed after him.

Kimimaro could feel Orochimaru's snake-like grip around Neji's body. Neji sent a glare towards his way—it caused Kimimaro's curse seal to pulsate. He grunted from the pain.

--------------------

The two combatants stood face to face. Tenten couldn't stop shivering from her crush's predatory gaze. Neji cracked a smile. "What's wrong Tenten-_chan? _I thought you would like a good fight with me."

Zabuza glanced at both of them. "The next match: Sento Kaishi!"

Tenten shakily pulled out a scroll, she could still feel Neji's glare on her. It was so hard to control her body. Neji smirked. "Tenten-_chan._ Maybe you should give up, if don't stop shaking, we can't fight."

Tenten stopped as her eyes went wide. _Calm down Tenten, you can do this._ She kept telling herself. It wasn't helping as her body kept shaking.

"Tenten-_chan, _do you need a blanket? You can't stop shivering. I'm starting to get disappointed. Well, I guess since you _are _just a fangirl."

Neji continued to belittle her, Kimimaro, who was clutching the bar squeezed on it so much it started to bend.

"Damn it, TENTEN!!"

The girl looked up to see Kimimaro staring at her, his cool green eyes looking dead at her. "Don't listen to him! He's playing mind games with you! You aren't weak. You have the strength to stand and fight! Beat him, you can do it!"

Everyone looked shocked at Kimimaro's outburst. The Kaguya himself was shocked at his statement. He squeezed his chest again. _There's that feeling again…_

Tenten thought on what he said. Neji gritted his teeth. "Neji…" He turned his gaze to see the bun haired girl stand up slowly.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" She said as she opened the scroll she had to reveal a bo staff.

(Play **Endscape** by UVERworld)

Neji shook his head. _She should've given up…right, Orochimaru? _

Tenten charged twirling her staff, Neji got into a Jyuken stance and deflected the blows, Tenten opened another scroll to reveal some tonfa, again—Neji blocked the attacks like they were nothing. Neji struck back with a powerful palm strike, sending Tenten back against the wall.

The girl gritted her teeth. _Close range combat is a no-no…_ Her distress became a smirk as she summoned up two more scrolls. She jumped high into the air and opened it to reveal a horde of kunai, shuriken, ninja-to, and loads more.

"**Ninja Tool: Twin Rising Dragons!" **She unleashed the tools open Neji; the boy smirked as they all struck him.

"**Eight Trigrams: Kaiten!!" **Neji began spinning around at a rapid pace; the tools deflected the chakra shield made from the high velocity spin.

When the rain of tools ended, stood a triumphant Neji, surrounded by countless weapons. Tenten landed and bit her thumb. _Long range doesn't help either! _

Kimimaro saw she was getting distressed from this one-sided fight. _Don't do anything stupid now._

Tenten nodded to herself. _Mid-range it is! _Tenten picked up the ninja-to by her foot and tossed it at Neji, the boy easily stopped it. The girl began jumping and running around, picking up weapons and throwing them at Neji, some managed to scrape him while the others plain old missed. Neji was getting annoyed. It wasn't his fate to lose!

Neji decided to rush forward; he ran passed a fuma-shuriken and delivered a palm strike to Tenten's chest. The girl fell as blood dripped from her mouth.

Neji glared at the girl on his foot and kicked her. Tenten coughed up blood and was sent against the wall.

Neji chuckled and stalked over and picked her up by her collar. Neji ruthlessly slammed her against the wall. He decided to do it again, enjoying the pain strike Tenten's face.

When the bun haired girl coughed up more blood on the ground. Neji frowned and threw her on the ground behind him.

"Get up, you wench. I haven't finished smacking you around." He said, unknowingly adding fuel to the curse seal.

Kimimaro gritted his teeth. She was losing terribly, it wasn't even a fight anymore—it was a beat down!

Tenten shakily stood up. "N-Neji, I won't have you make a fool out of me, not in front of someone who encouraged me to fight you!" She picked up a ninja-to by her and ran after the Hyuga prodigy. Neji started laughing as Tenten's attacked missed horribly, she was letting anger cloud her judgment—and now she was paying for it.

When the girl's attack missed, Neji's curse seal activated, he felt a boost of power and got behind her. He planted his foot on her back and tugged her wrists. Tenten grunted in pain and dropped the ninja-to.

"You pay much attention to your hands, Tenten-_chan." _He said with a sickening tone to his voice. "And your arms look so smooth and soft…"

The girl whimpered for her life. Neji began to tug on Tenten's arms; he pulled and pulled until he eventually ripped her arms from their sockets.

Tenten howled in sheer pain. Everyone in the balcony, the Hokage's box, and even Zabuza flinched at her blood curdling scream.

Zabuza had enough. Tenten was unconscious and Neji continued to step on her body and kick it around. "Neji! You won already, this match is over!!"

Zabuza's tone didn't sit well with Neji. "What? Didn't you say that killing was acceptable!?!" He yelled.

The Konoha teams and Kimimaro were too stunned for words at the statement he said. He was going to _kill _her?

"Don't overstep your bounds, Neji!" Zabuza threatened. Neji grunted and nodded. The curse seal receding. Neji looked at Tenten beaten body and huffed.

Kimimaro, led by a few others rushed to Tenten's side. Sasuke, who was one of them, ran past Neji. The two traded looks, Neji mouthed. 'Uzumaki is next'

Kimimaro turned Tenten over and lifted her up. Tenten's beautiful face is now filled with bruises and scars. The girl slowly opened her chocolate brown eyes and gazed at Kimi's cool green. "K-Kimimaro…" she smiled weakly, this man that she barely knows, went out of his way to encourage her to fight, even though she had no chance. He shook her a bit, Tenten had to stay conscious.

"Tenten, don't lose it now, stay with me!" He pleaded. For the first time in his life, Kimimaro felt anguish and dread. The feelings were unpleasant, and he wanted them to go away.

"T-thanks, for giving me the strength to fight…I-I have to return the favor…" She muttered as she closed her eyes.

"Tenten? Tenten! Kuso! (Damn)" Kimimaro stood up and picked her up bridal style. And ran for the door to the infirmary.

One medic saw her. "Hey, let us take—" He was silenced when Kimimaro pointed a bone spike at him.

"Shut it, you. Now take me to doctor Yakushi."

After that ordeal, the Hokage whispered something to Yokoumaru. "I'll get right to it." He said as he vanished in a swirl of flames.

Moments later, Kakashi poofed behind Neji, who was standing on the balcony. "Yo, you need to come with me."

Neji turned to him. "What for?"

Kakashi waved his hand. "Nothing important, now just come on." Neji begrudgingly nodded.

--------------------

Zabuza sighed again. "Next match…"

Everyone's eyes widened. Itachi gasped, Sasuke had flashbacks from his nightmare before the exam. _My nightmare…is coming true._

Naruto shook his head in denial. "I must be reading that thing wrong."

_Gaara of the Desert_

_v_

_Sakura Haruno_

--------------------

**A/N: And that leaves us with the next match. Gaara vs. Sakura, a tear jerking battle of mismatched proportions await! I hope you liked my little KimiTen thing there. The next chapter will be only the Gaara vs. Sakura fight. And end with (Spoiler TAG)!**

**Cya next time!**


	26. A Valiant Effort

**A/N: Ugh, I'm sooooo SICKKKK!!! I have a headache, stuffy nose, sore throat, a temperature of 103, yet I'm typing the next Son of the Kyuubi fic on my laptop... Anyway, it's the fated Gaara vs Sakura fight... On to reviewer response:**

**Unices: I noticed quite a few people showed their distress on how I portrayed Neji. I'll say this: Neji willingly gave into the power of Orochimaru, so his psyche is all fucked up.**

**SnowCharms: It won't be the one-sided fight it proceeds to be. And yes, Itachi is OOC. In this story, he doesn't commit the massacre of course, so his personality is very different than his cold, canon counterpart.**

**Twilight Sword Master: Sakura won't get destroyed so easily, that I assure you. Naruto's match is last.**

**Hatake Kumiko: …Uh, -blush- thanks?**

**Narai Moroha: Whew, long review! Neji wasn't in the right state of mind and Tenten saw Neji's CS form when he woke from the hospital. So that image of Neji kept Tenten from fighting, and Neji was pretty cold before Naruto kicked his ass, and I wanted to show the extreme extent of that.**

**Anyway -cough- on with the show!**

**--------------------**

Sakura was too stunned to move when she saw who she had to fight. She knows that Gaara is bad news. But still, she has to fight; she had to prove to everyone that she's not that weak fangirl she was.

She looked to see her opponent standing at the arena floor, waiting for her to come down. Sakura gulped and followed until Sasuke put a hand on her shoulder. Sakura looked over her shoulder in surprise. "Sasuke-kun…?" She asked.

Sasuke's complexion was paler than normal. "Sakura…stay safe, please. Remember that you can give up the match before it gets serious. Just don't fight too hard." He asked.

Sakura was worried, she never saw Sasuke-kun so distressed.

Naruto walked up to her as well. "Sakura, do the best you can, this isn't a battle you should die over. Make us proud."

Sakura looked down and nodded. She ran past Naruto and down to the arena.

Zabuza looked at the combatants; Gaara had his arms crossed with a perpetual scowl on his face. Sakura was nervous and jumpy.

"You know the rules, Sento Kaishi!!"

Sakura decided to act first; she quickly drew a kunai and jumped back. _Let's see what he can do. _Sakura tossed her kunai at Gaara, and watched with awe as sand emerged from his gourd and blocked it.

Gaara looked at her with a bored expression. "Is that all, kudaranai (worthless)."

Sakura shivered at his voice. It sounded creepy and inhuman. The pinkette shook off the negative thoughts and thought of a plan. _He must be controlling the sand with chakra, so I have just the thing._

What Sakura did next shocked some people, Ino especially as she created chakra scalpels. The pink haired genin smirked at everyone's shocked expression.

(Play **Resonance **by T.M. Revolution)

"Let's dance!" She called out to the red head as she charged forward. Gaara complied by making hand motions. Sakura watched amazed as sand flew out of his gourd and poised to kill, Sakura used her training as a medic to dodge and deflect the attacks with her chakra scalpels, Gaara slowly grew agitated and had the sand come in faster. This forced Sakura to go on the defensive and dodge the sand attacks.

The shinobi on the balcony looked on amazed at how Sakura gracefully dodged the attacks. Itachi leaned back and nodded with approval, all that training with the good Dr. Yakushi paid off.

Sasuke looked entranced as the pinkette looked like she was dancing rather than dodging. Sasuke felt pride well inside him; he was really impressed at how Sakura had progressed.

Ino was looking on with envy. It seems the gap between them had started again—this time in Sakura's favor. Sakura was just a civilian—and Ino came from a shinobi clan, so naturally Ino was stronger. But now…

_I feel like, I'm being left behind by you...Sakura._

Sakura gradually got closer to Gaara and made a run for it, "Not so fast!" He said, he took some of the sand on the ground and made senbon out of them, they shot at Sakura at very fast speeds—the pinkette was struck in the back by them.

Sakura grunted in pain. _**Don't worry about it! It's only a flesh wound! **_Her inner half yelled, Sakura made another scalpel and returned the pain to Gaara as she struck him with a horizontal slash.

Though there was no physical damage, Gaara felt the pain in his legs. _Pain…I'M IN PAIN!! _

Gaara wailed from the pain but Sakura ignored it as she started striking him on various spots on his body, disabling his limbs. Sakura jumped back and tossed senbon at his neck, hoping that the sand shield won't work because of his disabled form. Sakura's eyes went wide as the sand shield appeared and blocked it. _How…? But I disabled him!_ She thought.

On the stands, Temari and Kankuro were getting nervous, now that this girl has inflicted pain on Gaara; she won't make it out alive.

Back to the fight Sakura looked on dumbly as Gaara raised his head, he was very pissed off.

"You hurt me…Mother wants your blood now!!" The sand around the arena, and the remainder in Gaara's gourd started acting on its own; they all formed senbon and aimed themselves at Sakura.

In a panic, Sakura ran out of the way, but there were hundreds, maybe thousands of sand senbon, so she went to dodge, and cut the sand. Although she wasn't as lucky when some of the senbon cut and scraped her. Sakura faltered for a bit and a sand senbon stabbed itself her leg.

"Sakura!!" Sasuke shouted. This was getting bad, she can't keep dodging forever!

"Sasuke." The Uchiha turned to his older brother. "Have faith in Sakura, you hear me? She won't give up so easily."

As Sakura was dodging, Gaara regained the feel in his arms. He started to re-control the sand—by having it grab Sakura by her injured leg, and tossing her against the wall. This caused the senbon in the pinkette's leg to go deeper into it.

Sakura landed on the ground and coughed up blood and glared at Gaara. The red head had the sand in Sakura's leg to spike outwards, causing the girl to clench her leg in pain.

Sakura cursed and dug into her wound and pulled the sand out—while she was doing this Gaara sent a pillar of sand her way. The girl reacted to slow and was pinned against the wall by it. The pillar transformed into a fist and tossed Sakura to the ground.

Everyone watched amazed at how Sakura stood and charged forward with her scalpels, they watched as Sakura was hit in the stomach by another sand pillar, she gasped as the air left her lungs. Sakura opened one eye and glared at the sand genin; she grabbed the pillar of sand and pushed her body from it.

_It's time to you my Genjutsu! _She said, she ran through handseals and shouted. **"Genjutsu: Infinite Darkness!"**

The whole arena was surrounded by an inky black darkness. Up in the Hokage box, Hiruzen was impressed.

In the darkness, Sakura noticed that the sand didn't know where to go, so she easily made her way up to Gaara and sent a punch his way. The sand shield failed to protect him and was sent to the ground. The pinkette combo-ed him with the chakra scalpels and plunged a senbon into his neck. Kabuto had taught her about the human anatomy, and she hit Gaara where he would be knocked out.

Sakura cancelled the jutsu and fell to her knees. She was low on chakra; she cursed herself for not having enough. She looked to see Gaara's face…crack?

Sakura's eyes widened as his body shattered into sand. _**Sand Clone? **_Sakura didn't see the sand whip make it's way to her and hit her across the face, sending her in the air. The whip wrapped itself around Sakura's neck, and started choking her.

Gaara had an insane look in his eyes that had chills roll down Sakura's spine, Gaara licked his lips and tightened his grip. Sakura was afraid for her life, she tried to break free but found her arms restrained by two other whips, Gaara raised his hand in the air and created a giant senbon—and let it fly.

Everyone watched as Sakura was pierced by the sand senbon, fortunately it didn't hit anything vital. Sakura's eyes widened as blood dripped down the senbon.

The sand genin grinned and pushed the senbon all the way through her body. Sakura screamed from the pain as the senbon went right through her.

Team 7 watched as Sakura's head bobbed down. Sasuke was frozen stiff, his dream was coming true. Naruto squeezed the railing; Itachi just looked on with an unreadable expression.

Gaara let the sand whips disperse, Sakura's body fell to the ground with a sickening thud. The red head grinned insanely as he looked at the pool of blood that was forming.

Gaara stopped grinning however as Sakura rose from the ground. You could see right through the hole in her chest. Sakura continued to wheeze and gasp

(Play **Black Paper Moon **by Tommy Heavenly6)

"I…won't…give UP!" She said as she made another chakra scalpel.

Up on the balcony, Sasuke was desperately yelling. "Sakura, don't do this! You're too hurt to fight! GIVE UP!!"

"Sasuke, would you stop?" Itachi said, annoyed.

"But, Itachi—"

"Can't you see why Sakura's fighting so hard?" He asked. Sasuke watched as Sakura was hit by another wave of sand. He shook his head.

"She's fighting for you." Sasuke turned to his older brother in shock.

"But why—"

"She loves you, you idiot. And she wants to show you that she isn't the same weak fangirl she once was. And this is her way of doing it."

Sasuke turned to see Sakura on the ground panting, clutching the hole in her chest. Wiping the sweat from her brow as she stood back up.

"Does she have to do it this way?" Sasuke asked his brother.

Itachi shook his head. "When you kissed Haku, I saw the devastated look on her face. She wants to show you that she can be strong as well, she wants to be the one that will get you."

Sasuke looked down to the ground. _Sakura…I never knew you felt this way…I thought you only saw me as an ideal. But now I see…_

"Sakura! You can do it!" Sasuke yelled. "You can win this!!"

"Right! There's still a chance!" Naruto yelled as well

"Show me the flames of your youth!" A recuperated Lee shouted

"Give him a 16 hit combo!" Ino yelled

"Show him the results of your training!" Itachi shouted

"I know you can do it…Sakura-chan."

Sakura looked up at all the genin and jonin sensei's, more importantly at Kabuto, who was standing at the exit looking at her with a smile.

_Everyone…_ She let a tear escape her as she extended her right hand. A chakra scalpel formed, she put her other hand on top of her right and intensified it. Sakura ran forward with a battle cry.

Gaara wasn't going down so easily. He sent volleys of sand at her, Sakura got hit, but she ignored the pain as she slashed at him.

"It's over!!" She yelled as she sliced him, she managed to fracture his legs and do internal damage, Gaara fell down to the ground. Sakura smiled and fell too.

But Gaara caught himself; Gaara spun himself around and faced Sakura. Sand began to crawl around Sakura's form. The pinkette's eyes widened.

"**Sand Coffin" **Gaara murmured as the girl was encased in sand, everyone's eyes widened.

Sakura was raised into the air, the sand squeezing her, only her head was visible. Sakura took the time to look at everyone she could see. Her eyes gazed at Sasuke-kun. Sasuke's sharingan eyes were starting tear up as he looked at her. The two gazed at each other for what seemed to be an eternity until Sakura smiled sweetly at him.

_I love you_

"**Sand Burial!!!"**

**--------------------**

**A/N: MUHAHAHAHA –cough, hack, wheeze- Cliffhanger! I'm pretty sure I'll get angry reviews but let me tell you this: I do not hate Sakura, nor do I care about the flames that I may get for this. Anyway, I'm gonna get some sleep**


	27. Team 7 Forever

**A/N: Back yet again with another chapter of Son of the Kyuubi, Now in Technicolor! On to the reviewer response:**

**Uchiha Kumiko: Lol, Ok.**

**Leaf Ranger: Read the chapter there, buddy.**

**Narai Moroha: Lol, unexpected eh?**

**On with this story!  
**

**--------------------**

"**Sand Burial!!!"**

Gaara squeezed his palm and the sand impacted. Sasuke had a look of pure terror as blood and sand splattered the ground, a larger mass of bloody sand fell to the ground, you could see Sakura's crushed form in the sand.

Zabuza wordlessly walked over to her. _Barely alive… _"Gaara is the winner."

Sasuke jumped over the railing. "Hang on Sakura!!" Sasuke rushed past Gaara and the two traded looks, the Uchiha fixated his vision back on the bloody mound that is Sakura.

Sakura looked at Sasuke's feet with dead eyes. _I failed you…Sasuke-kun _she thought. Sasuke kneeled over and held her head up under his hand; he placed the other on her heart. He could feel her slowing heart beat.

"Sakura, Sakura don't die! I lost too much already!" He said desperately, tears forming from his Sharingan eyes. Sasuke saw the Konoha teams circling him. Itachi looked at his little brother with a solemn expression.

The pinkette smiled weakly at him. "I'm sorry…but I won't be able to follow with that." She muttered.

Sasuke's heart was beating faster the more Sakura's heart beat slowed. "Don't say that…you're gonna be ok. Medic! Medic!" Sasuke yelled, but no medics arrived. Haku kneeled next to Sasuke and ran a diagnostic jutsu on the girl.

"Sasuke-kun…I'm sorry but…I won't be able to stabilize her with my limited medical abilities…" She muttered to him, cursing herself to be unable to help.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Sasuke….kun…" The raven haired Uchiha turned his attention to Sakura.

"Sakura, you're gonna be fine! Remember we're team 7, team 7…forever." He said, lowering his head. Naruto just looked on, they deserved this moment together.

"Sasuke…please…just this once…kiss me." She asked quietly. Sasuke's eyes widened again, he decided to comply and lean closer, and with the last of her strength she put a hand on his cheek and put her lips against his. Tears streamed from Sasuke's eyes as he returned the kiss. Sakura unexpectedly pulled back and put her hand over Sasuke's.

"I love you…Sasuke-kun…" She muttered as she closed her eyes for the final time, she had a small smile on her face as her breath stilled and her heart beat stopped.

Sakura Haruno…is dead.

Sasuke was silent. Until he let out a cry of anguish. "SAKURAAA!!" Sasuke wailed and he slammed his fist on the ground. Naruto looked away, tears threatening to pour from his eyes. _Team 7…forever_

Itachi looked down, he never had someone under his wing this young die, Sakura had her whole ninja career ahead of her. _Dammit, why is this so hard?_ He thought as his eyes watered.

Ino was crying on Kiba's shoulder, in the heat of the moment Kiba wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

Haku put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder; he had stopped hitting the ground with his fist for a moment. Sasuke looked up at her, but there eyes didn't meet. Instead Haku wrapped Sasuke in a hug, the boy crying into her chest.

In a swirl of flames, everyone except Sasuke turned to see Yokoumaru appear. "Dad…" Naruto started.

The Demon fox gritted his teeth. "I was too late." He murmured. Yokoumaru was going to give Sakura a special seal that would've helped her against Gaara's fight, but now…

Sasuke slowly stood up, Haku holding on to him. "Gaara…" He murmured, his face hidden from view.

Gaara raised a nonexistent eyebrow. "What?" He said from the balcony. Sasuke kneeled down and grabbed a fist full of blood off the ground, his stood up and glared at Gaara, everyone gasped at what they saw. Sasuke's eyes have changed from their usual three tomoe to something like a red atom with a black outside of it.

"I'll make you pay… I'LL MAKE YOU PAY WITH BLOOD!!!" He shouted, the curse seal twitching. Sasuke twitched; he had to suppress the seal.

"Hmph, you think you can defeat me? I'll just kill you just like the pink haired one."

"SHUT UP!!" The Uchiha snapped back. "You didn't have to kill her! Sakura didn't deserve to die like this! She…never deserved to die." He said, calming down a bit.

Itachi walked up to Sasuke and put a hand on his shoulder, the raven haired boy locked eyes with his brother.

"I'll train you so you'll be able to make him pay, and I'll help train you with those new eyes of yours." He said.

Sasuke nodded and turned off his Mangekyou Sharingan. "Let's take Sakura out of here." He murmured, gesturing to his teammate's corpse.

--------------------

Sakura's body was laid out on a table with a white sheet covering her body. A silent figure slipped in, his eyes darted around for any kind of trap—thinking it was safe; he stepped out of the shadows.

Kabuto Yakushi lifted up the sheet to reveal Sakura's hair; he dared not to go farther. _I won't let you go so easily…_ He said as he plucked a strand of hair from her head. Luck was on his side as the root was attached, Kabuto tucked it away and covered her hair back up and vanished.

--------------------

After an hour, the final match started: Naruto vs. Kiba.

"Sento Kaishi!!"

Kiba and Naruto glared at each other. "Yo Naruto, I feel your pain, sorta." He said. "My dad walked out on us when I was little, I've never saw him since" (A/N: I'm assuming Kiba didn't know the truth) "So in a way, I know what it is like to lose someone."

Naruto shook his head. "Are you going to babble or are you going to fight?" He said, slipping into a taijutsu stance.

Kiba grinned and made a hand seal. "You got it! **Man Beast Clone!" **Akamaru 'arfed' and in a poof of smoke, Akamaru transformed into Kiba.

Naruto grinned. "Impressive, but can you stand up to my **Shadow Clone Jutsu?" **five Naruto's appeared in a poof of smoke, Kiba and Akamaru looked at each of them. _Ha! They're just silly Bunshin. They aren't that tough._ Kiba focused his eyes and nose on the real Naruto.

"Let's go!" Naruto shouted to his clones. The all started mixing each other up, trying to confuse Kiba, the circle around and drew kunai. "Kiba, you're surrounded! Give up!" Naruto shouted. Kiba grinned ferally.

"I don't think so, **Fang over Fang!" **Kiba and Akamaru jumped and spun at high speeds, creating two swirling drill that plowed through the clones, The real Naruto made handseals:

"**Futon: Hurricane Fist!" **Naruto arched his fist back and punched, a powerful gust of wind collided with Kiba's fang over fang, the two attacks struggled for dominance until the Hurricane Fist over powered Kiba's jutsu.

Kiba flipped and landed on his feet, He looked over to see Akamaru held up with a kunai to his throat, courtesy of Naruto's shadow clone.

The real Naruto strode over to the dog boy. "One wrong move and Akamaru will be short a head, so what will it be?" He said.

Kiba gritted his teeth. "Don't hurt Akamaru…I give up." He said begrudgingly, upset that he lost against his rival.

Zabuza shook his head. "Shousa, Naruto!"

Naruto smiled, but his smile was bittersweet. Hinata and what's left of his team and Haku came down to congratulate him.

Kiba saw the interaction between Naruto and Hinata and huffed.

"Just give it up will you?"

The dog boy looked up to see Ino staring down at him.

"Why should I?" He said.

Ino looked at the couple make their way upstairs. "Because they're meant for each other. I know you know that, too."

Kiba grunted and Ino giggled. "C'mon, Kibble. Get your dog and c'mon."

"Fine…Wait, Kibble??" Ino giggled some more and ran upstairs.

--------------------

"Ok, in the next month we will have our final portion of the exams. The actual tournament. Here foreign dignitaries will be here to see the strength of those who made it. Now, draw a number from this box."

"3" Sasuke said.

"1" Hinata said.

"5!" Naruto exclaimed.

"6" Kimimaro said.

"9" Shino said in his usual monotone.

"2" Kakashi said, Kakashi was drawing for Neji—who wasn't here at the moment.

"7" Shikamaru said.

"10" Kankuro said.

"8" Temari said.

"4…" Gaara said.

"Ok, so that means the tournament pairs will be as follows:"

_Hinata vs. Neji_

_Sasuke vs. Gaara_

_Naruto vs. Kimimaro_

_Shikamaru vs. Temari._

_Shino vs. Kankuro_

"I'll see you all next month. Train hard." Zabuza said as he vanished in smoke.

--------------------

The Preliminary aftermath left a broken Team 7 behind. Sakura's funeral was held that week. The gods wept tears of rain as Sakura was committed to the ground. It was then that Sasuke met Sakura's mother. Akai Haruno mother looked just like Sakura. She was pregnant with her second child, when Sasuke learned this; he asked if he could be the one who would teach her the way of the ninja. Her mother nodded and complied. Glad her future child will have a good teacher.

--------------------

A man with Spiky white hair tied in a long spiky pony-tail walked through the gates of Konoha the next morning.

_After I meet the old man I'm gonna do some 'research' _He thought as he giggled perversely.

Deidara walked back into his room. He had just gone for a walk to shake off the bad feeling in his gut, but I didn't help.

"Why do I get the feeling something BIG is going to happen?" He asked himself.

--------------------

**A/N: End of chapter! I really didn't feel like getting into Kiba and Naruto's fight so I cut it short, anyway! I hope you liked my SasuSaku moment there. Now some questions have been raised.**

**Why did Kabuto take Sakura's hair sample?**

**What bad feeling does Deidara feel**

**How will Jiraiya and Naruto meet?**

…**And how will his training differ?**

**I guess we'll find out next time on Son of the Kyuubi!**


	28. History of the Uchiha

**A/N: Welcome to chapter 28 of son of the Kyuubi, now in HD! On to reviewer response:**

**Exile-kun-Glad you're reading the story again. My reason for killing Sakura was for the development of Gaara and Sasuke's character, and how they react towards each other through out the story. At least it wasn't some meaningless slaughter.**

**SnowCharms: It surprised me two when I wrote it in my notebook O_o. And Zabuza couldn't do anything about it, as Gaara was following the rules. Killing is allowed, as long as you don't kill a defenseless opponent. Last time I checked, Sakura was dancing on Gaara.**

**Narai Moroha: Hahaa… Maybe I shouldn've identified the person as Kabuto… And yes, I totally stole that moment from the Shikamaru and Kurenai moment XD. And OMG I read the latest chapter… I hope Hinata doesn't die or I'm friggin done with the Naruto series!**

**Anyway, on with the story!**

**--------------------**

In Sarutobi's office, Itachi, Sasuke, and Yokoumaru where seated in front of the desk. Except for Yokoumaru who was standing.

"Alright let's get to business, show me the Sharingan." Yokoumaru asked. Sasuke nodded and made a hand seal, his eyes shifted into the Mangekyou Sharingan.

"You see? It's the most unusual one I've ever seen." Itachi said. "I saw what Madara, Izuna, and Kakashi's look like, but this one…"

Sandaime took a smoke from his pipe. "Yokoumaru, what do you deduct?"

The Kyuubi took a good look at and nodded. "Ok, turn it off." Sasuke nodded and closed his eyes and opened them to reveal his regular onyx black eyes.

"Sasuke…can you leave the room? We adults need to talk." Yokoumaru asked.

The boy wordlessly nodded and left.

When they were sure he was gone, Yokoumaru spoke up. "I've never seen a Mangekyou Sharingan like that in almost 200 years, since the first Uchiha."

Itachi's eyes widened. "200 years ago? Since Raijin-sama?" Raijin Uchiha was the founder of the Uchiha clan, they say he defeated the Kyuubi and obtained the Mangekyou."

Yokoumaru shook his head. "What are those fools teaching you? Raijin and I were best friends…"

-Dzero9-ton: Flashback Jutsu!-

_Two men were surrounded by an army of enemy ninja and samurai. The taller of the two had long shaggy red hair, with matching demonic red eyes. He was wearing a blood red kimono—stained with his enemy's blood? Nobody knows. The shorter one (est. 5'9) had long spiky black hair and onyx black eyes, he was wearing samurai armor with an Uchiwa strapped to his waist along with three katana._

"_Kyuubi-sama, if we make it out of this in one piece, I'll promise not to tell Nibi about you kissing the Shukaku." Raijin said with a smirk._

"_You bastard! I thought you wouldn't bring that up!" The Kyuubi was 'accidentally' pushed by the brain-dead Sanbi into Shukaku which caused them to kiss. If the Nibi caught wind of that—she'll tell every single demon in the land about it._

"_Then I guess we should shut up and fight then?" Raijin asked._

"…_Fine."_

-Flashback Jutsu: Kai-

"Raijin was one of a kind; He was a good friend of the nine Biju. But one day…"

-Dzero9-ton: Flashback Jutsu!-

"_You bastard!" Raijin shouted as he hacked the assailant in two. When Raijin sheathed his sword, he ran over to where the love of his life was, she was badly hurt with a wound across her chest and multiple weapons sticking out of her._

"_Hang on my love!!" He said as he pulled the weapons out of her._

_The Kyuubi was running towards Raijin's house, he couldn't believe that Shukaku and Nibi would try to kill him! He had trouble against the because of their fire and wind elements, but got rid of them in time he hoped. Apparently, they attacked him so a feudal lord could stall him so he could kill Raijin. When the Kyuubi asked why, it was because the man took what was dear to them. Kyuubi understood and went to help Raijin._

_When the Kyuubi arrived, it was deathly quiet, he transformed into his human form when the coast was clear to see Raijin on his knees staring at the corpse of his wife._

"_I'm too late…" Kyuubi murmured as he went to Raijin's side._

"_Raijin…"_

"_Why did this have to happen…" He murmured. "She had just given birth to my only daughter…Why…"_

_Kyuubi only watched as Raijin sobbed quietly for the loss of his love. Raijin was young, only 17, Kyuubi was sure he'd find love again. _

"_Raijin." The man looked up at the Kyuubi, tears still in his eyes. "You don't want this to happen again, do you?"_

_Raijin hastily shook his head. "Then what I'm about to give you will help prevent this." The Kyuubi put his right hand over Raijin's eyes and made a seal with his left. Raijin grunted in pain as he felt his eyes burning up._

_When the Kyuubi released his eyes, Raijin blinked a few times and looked at his reflection in the blood. "My eyes…" His eyes now resembled a four pronged spiral; the spiral itself was red while the outside was black._

"_What I gave you…" The Kyuubi started. "…Is the perfect form of the Sharingan, the Mangekyou Sharingan. With this, you'll have great Genjutsu prowess, and you'll still have the basics of the normal Sharingan. The only way to obtain this form of the Sharingan is the death of someone closest to you. It is a tool that will help you protect the ones you love. But be careful, there is a wrong way to get it as well, that will lead to blindness each time you use it."_

_Raijin's eyes widened. "I see…But you don't have to worry, since I'm the only one with the Sharingan in the first place."_

_The Kyuubi smirked. "Who said you were or will be the only one? The Sharingan is genetic, you're children will have it, and also I gave it to your daughter as well."_

_Raijin's eyes watered. "Thank you…Kyuubi-sama. I promise you that these eyes will be used to protect and not to destroy…"_

-Flashback Jutsu: Kai!-

"Too bad the greed of human kind kept him from following that promise." Yokoumaru said as he finished his story.

Itachi's eyes widened. "I see…So I will succumb to the blindness as well?" He asked.

Yokoumaru smirked. "We have many new medical advances, better than the ones during the time of Madara Uchiha and Raijin Uchiha. I surmise the blindness effects will be permanent if you don't seek medical attention within 72 hours."

Itachi gave a small smile. "That's good to hear. Now on to Sasuke's training…"

Sarutobi's face grew serious. "Yes, he'll be fighting two battles at once. Gaara's and the battle against Orochimaru's curse seal…"

--------------------

Naruto and Hinata were at the Uzumaki house having some bowls of ramen together—cooked by the joint efforts of Hinata and Ayame.

"Wow, you're such a good cook! You'll make one hell of a wife some day." He exclaimed.

_One hell of a wife…_Hinata's face turned red and Ayame giggled. "Naruto-kun, I think you should go now, you have to find that guy, remember?"

Naruto shot out of his seat. "Oh that's right! Hina-chan, I have to go find this man who's supposed to be my godfather."

"Really?" Hinata asked. She never heard Naruto mention his godfather before. "Who is it?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know, but my dad said when I see him, he'll make a funny dance." The indigo-haired girl tilted her head in confusion. That's when Ayame put her arm around Hinata.

"Naruto-kun, you should be leaving now! Hinata and I are going to the hot springs to relax. Right Hinata?"

Hinata looked at the older girl and nodded. Naruto nodded. "Alright then, have fun!" He said as he walked out of the door.

--------------------

Naruto put his head down in defeat. He's been looking for an hour and a half! There was no guy doing a funny dance, ANYWHERE!!!

"Augh, where the hell IS that guy!?" Naruto shouted. He knew he should've asked his father more info on him, but noooo…"

Naruto let his mind wander as his feet were on auto-pilot. His thoughts went to Sasuke and Gaara.

_I'll make you pay…WITH BLOOD!!_

Naruto felt a ghostly fear, what if Sasuke dies, too? He couldn't take it if he lost his brother! No, he had to have faith in him, he'll win and make Sakura's killer pay!

--------------------

…In the Hot springs…

Hinata and Ayame were having a girl to girl talk, both of them talking about there respective men.

"Ever since Itachi got that new katana, he's been training like crazy. I feel like I've been ignored…" Ayame said sadly as she looked up at the sky.

"Ayame-chan, you shouldn't be sad, Itachi-kun still loves you, it's just that he's a shinobi—and a Shinobi's duty comes first sometimes. That's the same with me and Naruto-kun. Until now, I hardly got to see him"

Ayame seemed to understand, _I guess I was expecting Itachi to be so romantic, I shouldn't have expected that, after all, he's a ninja._

"What about Haku and Sasuke? Ever since Sakura's death, Sasuke-kun has been locked up in his room. The only time he left was to help out Akai-san." Ayame asked.

Hinata looked at the water with sad eyes. "Haku has been upset that Sasuke-kun doesn't talk to her anymore. I wish I could do something…"

Ayame got an idea. "Maybe we can…."

Outside the hot spring, Jiraiya of the Sanin was peeping through the women's side of the bath, giggling perversely at the two women who were sitting at the ledge in his view of sight with wet towels on their bodies. (Guess Who)

Naruto let his feet guide him outside the hot spring when he heard some perverted giggling.

"Who the—" Naruto looked to see a man wearing red giggling perversely while looking through a peep hole. Naruto's eyes widened, that man is peeping on the ladies in the Hot Spring! And not just any ladies, Hinata and Ayame!

Naruto rushed up to the man and decked him across the head, which caused him to drop his notes.

Jiraiya rubbed his head and glared at the blond. "What the hell is wrong with you, kid!?" Jiraiya demanded. "Don't you know who I am?"

"I don't give a flying FUCK who you are! Don't be peeping in the women's hot spring while Hinata and Ayame are in there, you pervert!"

On the other side, Hinata, and Ayame had dangerous glints in their eyes. They would have to thank Naruto later. They just caught live bait.

"That's it Minato you're so dead—" Jiraiya took a good look at the kid in front of him, he looked like the spitting image of Minato. Take away the dots on his forehead and the whiskers of course. "Wait a sec—are you…Naruto?"

Naruto took a step back. "Who wants to know?"

That's when Jiraiya summoned up a toad and started doing a funny dance. "I'm the great Toad Sage, disciple of the Third Hokage, teacher of the Fourth Hokage, master of the Sage Arts, JIRAIYAAAH!!!" He exclaimed.

Naruto's eyes widened. _A funny dance? _Naruto gaped and pointed at him. "You're my Godfather!"

Jiraiya smirked at him. "Ah, you know the truth about your heritage. So you must've seeded me out so you can learn your dad's prized jutsu eh? Well you've come to the right Super Pervert!"

Naruto's astonishment turned to a smirk. "Repeat that please?"

"I said you've come to the right Super Pervert!"

Naruto whistled. "You hear that ladies? He's a super pervert."

Jiraiya gawked and turned around slowly to see a bunch of women with various weapons on them, all are scantly clad in a towel.

The Toad sage turned to see Naruto halfway down the street. _He took after Kushina, too…_

"GET HIM!!"

Jiraiya's girly scream could be heard as far as Amegakure…

--------------------

In Amegakure…

Pein woke up to hear a girly scream; He looked to his left to see Konan there. "Konan? You hear that? That sounded strangely like Jiraiya-sensei…"

Konan shook her head. "Who knows…? But anyway, Madara wants to see you…"

--------------------

**A/N: end of Chapter! Looks like there are some rocks in Sasuke and Haku's relationship, as well as Ayame and Itachi! What's up with that Katana anyway? Also, I completely made up the history of the Sharingan. For those who don't know who Izuna is, he's Madara's brother, he isn't an OC. You can go to Narutopedia for his picture.**

**JA NE!**


	29. Letter to My Fans

**A/N: Hey guys, been a while huh? Yeah, it's me, Dzero9. How long has it been since I updated Son of the Kyuubi and Yamikage? Far too long if you ask me. Well, if you're curious as to why I haven't been updating, the main reason is because my computer crashed and it was stricken with viruses and malware. It was so sick I had to the computer down, all my data—gone. I could've easily have written it in school, but they blocked . Apparently some dude was reading lemons so the county blocked the website. Even so, I still could've written, but with the Graduation Project (North Carolina thing) I had no time to do so. Several months later, I moved to a new neighborhood and to my luck—it has a welcome center with easy-access computers. So now I'll be able to continue my top stories, and put them off hiatus. Be on the lookout—with the latest Naruto manga development, I'm able to add some new stuff to both series—so stay tuned!**

**-Dzero9**


	30. Just a break

The clouds were gray on this especially cool night, several people were seen at a certain gravestone in Konoha. Most of the people were wearing animal masks that hid their saddened faces, save for two people—a violet haired woman with pitch black eyes and muscular man with bandages around his lower face. Normally Yugao Uzuki would graciously kill Zabuza at any given moment, but it was different—he was a leaf ninja now. Yugao let out a shaky sigh as she read the name on the gravestone:

_Gekkou Hayate_

Zabuza shook his head when the women in front of him put the man's sword down next to his grave. If only they knew Hayate was up against a Sand Jonin and the man they believe to be Orochimaru, they wouldn't have sent him all on his lonesome. The former mist ninja put a reassuring hand on Yugao's shoulder, the purple haired woman looked up to his and nodded slightly. She looked down at her boyfriend's grave one last time. "I swear... I'll avenge you someday. Count on it."

00000000000

Naruto awoke early, today was the day he would begin his training, he looked on the top bunk to see Sasuke gone, the blond container sighed. Sasuke hasn't been out of his depression since Sakura died. Naruto shook his head. _'It's something I shouldn't pry in. He needs to get out of this on his own.' _Naruto turned to her some voices downstairs.

Jiraiya showed up at the Uzumaki home, he had a few things to say to Yokomaru. He knocked on the door and sure enough, the demon answered.

"Jiraiya? Naruto isn't even awake yet. But still—come in." The red haired Jonin gestured the toad sage inside, Jiraiya took a seat in the kitchen. He hasn't changed his stoic expression, Jiraiya looked around in the house. From what he could see, the place was relatively clean—there were some pictures of the extended family strewn about on different tables, the middle-aged pervert smiled a bit when he saw a picture of his god son suffering from brain freeze, and the two Uchiha boys laughing. _'Maybe it really was better off he was with Yokomaru.' _Jiraiya regained his frown. How could his own student name him godfather, then hand his son off to the Kyubi—of all people! He still hasn't gotten over it.

Yokomaru strode inside the kitchen with a mug of coffee. "It doesn't seem like you're here for just tea and crumpets." The demon said sarcastically.

Jiraiya closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "...I still haven't forgiven you for taking Naruto from me."

The fox demon sighed. "I knew it. Look, with my abilities—Minato knew for Naruto to have a normal life, it was best if I raised him. And it worked out well considering I never had the chance to be a father before..." Yokomaru never voiced it, but he missed his cub and mate dearly. He never felt so much rage before, and in doing so, he...

"But it's because of you, Minato died!" Jiraiya snapped. The middle-aged senin felt some of his buried emotions let loose in his shout, he had let those emotions boil for too long.

"......And I will regret it every second for the rest of my immortal life." Jiraiya was put off on how remorseful the Kyubi was acting. It was so to the point where he agreed where 'Kyubi' and 'Remorseful' should never be in the same sentence.

Jiraiya softened his stoic expression. "....Was the kid really happy?"

Yokomaru flashed a fangy grin. "You got that right! Naruto is like a ray of light that possibly saved a Hyuga Heiress, and both surviving Uchiha's from the darkness they were drifting into. Think about it: If Naruto left with you, Sasuke would be some emo fagot, Itachi would've left the village, mentally disturbed, and Hinata would be some meek, shy, girl who has a stuttering problem."

The Toad Sanin laughed heartily at Yokomaru's descriptions. "You may be right! Who knew Naruto was such a miracle worker?"

That was the miracle worker's cue as he strode down the stairs. "Wow, really? Who knew you though so highly of me, Pervy Sage?" Naruto greeted with a toothy grin. The boy was still in his pajamas, he probably didn't expect Jiraiya to be here so soon.

Meanwhile the Pervy Sage frowned. "Forget what I said! You're nothing but an annoying brat!"

Naruto gasped in mock surprise. "Gasp! I am not an annoying brat! Right, dad?"

Yokomaru shrugged lazily. "I dunno, kid. I'll have to agree with Pervy Sage on this one."

Jiraiya groaned. Those two would be the death of him with their sarcasm, Jiraiya rubbed his head. "OK, enough of that... Naruto, get ready, we're starting your training." the blond boy cheered and ran up the stairs.

That was when Itachi walked in with Ayame soon after. The Uchiha bowed. "It's not everyday Jiraiya of the Sanin visits us. I'm honored." The ramen girl bowed as well, Jiraiya was always spoke of in high regard because of his place as one of the Legendary Sanin.

Jiraiya waved dismissively. "You don't need to bow to me, it makes me feel old." Itachi nodded while Ayame blushed a bit.

"So, where are you two going? You guys are fully dressed and Itachi you have your katana with you." Yokomaru asked.

"I'm going to train, and Ayame wants to watch. Apparently she wants to get out more" Itachi replied.

Ayame nodded. "Yeah, it doesn't do a person good if they stay cooped up in a house all day. And besides, I hardly ever watch you guys in action." She added with a smile.

Yokomaru waved his hand. "Do what you want, have fun." The couple nodded as they left to find an unoccupied training field, Naruto came down a few moments afterward.

The Pervy Sage got up from his seat. "Ok, shall we go?" Naruto grinned and ran out of the door.

00000000000

Hinata awoke with a smile on her face. Today her, her father, and her sister—Hanabi will be training with each other today. The midnight haired girl really needed the training if she was going to beat Neji and make Naruto-kun proud of her. Hinata blushed, just thinking about Naruto made her heart flutter. She's had this since becoming thirteen, and what's worse—her thoughts have been betraying her in the most... naughty... ways.

Before her thoughts could commence their treachery, the door opened. Hanabi stood at the door with her usual child-like serious expression. Hanabi took after their father whilst Hinata took after their deceased mother. The younger sister was serious, and worked hard to get the Hyuga Clan's respect. Meanwhile the older sister was kind, shy, and didn't let the Clan's expectation weigh down on her like they did in the past. Hinata gave her sister a smile. "Hello there Hanabi-chan. I'll be dressed in a few."

Hanabi just nodded and closed the door. Her older sister sighed, she wished Hanabi wouldn't have that hardened Hyuga personality, but since she didn't grow up with her mother, she looked over to her father for influence. Hinata quickly got into her private bath, and dressed after she bathed. She went to the main branch's training grounds to see her father and Hanabi waiting for her. Hiashi Hyuga looked as his eldest child walked up to them. "About time. To get things started, I want you to spar with Hanabi. I want to see how much you two developed over the past month."

Hinata sighed to herself. She hated how her father made her spar with Hanabi, it really made the younger sister angry because she could never beat Hinata—the girl was just too strong. Hiashi darted his eyes at the two of them as they slipped into the standard female Jyuken stance. "Now begin." Hanabi activated her Byakugan and thrusted her palm at Hinata. The older girl, parried and struck back. Hanabi staggered and dashed forward with a sweep-the-feet maneuver, Hinata dodged it gracefully and countered accordingly. The younger sister fell to the ground, but quickly got on her feet.

"Hinata, why aren't you using your Byakugan? Am I that weak to you?" Hanabi questioned as she fixed her stance. Hiashi was intrigued. His eldest managed to avoid everything her younger sister thrown at her, and without using the Byakugan.

Hinata shook her head. "Because I might hurt you." Hanabi was furious and blindly charged, she threw volleys of Jyuken strikes, trying to hit what she could see of her older sister's tenketsu. Finally, Hanabi hit one, and Hinata jumped back. The girl felt numbness in her left hand as Hanabi ginned with accomplishment.

"You're the one who's going to get hurt if you don't activate your Byakugan." Hanabi mocked. The indigo haired girl shook off her numbness and frowned at her younger sister. With a sigh Hinata activated her Byakugan without the use of hand seals. Hanabi gasped when she saw this and Hiashi looked impressed, his eldest daughter has come along well from her early days as a shy little girl.

Hinata darted towards Hanabi, the younger sister tried blocking the palm strikes sent her way, but in the end—Hinata got the best of her. The older sister struck two of Hanabi's tenketsu, one in her arm, and one in the other, leaving them useless. Hinata de-activated her Byakugan and looked over at Hanabi. "It's over, Hanabi-chan. You can't move your arms for a while."

the younger sibling gritted her teeth, then sighed in defeat. Hiashi looked over at his oldest daughter. "You did well Hinata. You may go about the town, but I expect you to be back before sunset; You have more training ahead of you." Hinata bowed and left, meanwhile the Hyuga Clan Head looked over at his youngest daughter. "Hanabi, you let your anger get the best of you. If you want to be Clan Head, you must control that temper."

Hanabi shook her head. "It's not fair! How did Hinata get to be so strong? She's so gentle and peace loving... I don't understand!"

Hiashi watched Hinata go, the man had a small smile on his face. "It's because of that and more. Hinata wanted to prove to the clan that even one such as her can be a great ninja, and heiress to the Hyuga Clan. She's also has the support of her closest friends to spur her along."

"You mean the Uzumaki and the Uchiha? What do they have to do with it?" The young girl asked, intrigued.

"Hinata has very strong feelings for the Uzumaki. And as such, she works hard in order to be as strong as him, so she wont pass off as weak. Along with the Uzumaki, the Uchiha was also Hinata's first friends in the Ninja Academy." Hiashi replied.

Hanabi looked confused. "That's not what Neji-niisan said. He says that Hinata's weak because she lets her bonds of friendship hinder her to become the strongest she can be, and because of that, the Hyuga Clan will perish."

"...Neji said that? ...I see." Ever since getting the curse seal, Neji's state of mind has waxed and waned, Kakashi's seal seems to be working, but only time will tell. "...And where might Neji be?" The Clan Head asked.

"I don't know. I haven't seen him all day." Hanabi replied truthfully. The girl got up early this morning, and she hasn't seen Neji at all.

Hiashi nodded and let it go. "Now you go and take a break, too Hanabi." Hanabi sighed and left.

00000000000

It was already past noon at the Haruno house, Sasuke has just finished doing some work around the house for Sakura's mother. Akai smiled at him. "Thanks, Sasuke. You can go now."

Sasuke looked over at her. "You sure? If you want I can—"

"Don't you have training to get to anyways, Sasuke?"

The young Uchiha paused then nodded. "I guess.. We'll then—I guess I'll—" Suddenly the door swung open, hitting the wall with its force. Akai fearfully grabbed Sasuke while the boy got on edge, activating his Sharingan. A man walked into the home with black hair and green eyes. He was clearly angry and clearly drunk, hell, he even had a bottle of whiskey on him.

The man looked at Akai with a sneer. "Well, well. Can't get a man so you go after little kids? You're more pathetic than I thought, Akai."

The pregnant woman glared. "Tatsuo! I told you to never come back! Why are you here?" Sasuke looked over at Akai asking form some answers. "Tatsuo is my estranged husband Sakura's father, and the father of this child." The young Uchiha looked at him surprised.

Tatsuo hiccuped. "I came here to see if that rumor of Sakura dyin' was true, looks like it since ya got that ther Uchiha with you. Meh, serves that bitch right, this is what she gets for playin' ninja."

Sasuke was livid. "Shut up! You don't know anything! Now leave... before I make you." The boy had sub-consciously activated his Mangekyou Sharingan. That, with killing intent, sent shivers down Akai's spine.

Tatsuo gulped as he felt cold sweat rolling down on his face. "Uh oh, looks like it'sa time fo me to leave. Buh-bye!" And with that, he ran away.

Sasuke's anger subsided and he deactivated his Sharingan. Akai let go of him. "Thank you, Sasuke. If you weren't here..."

The young Uchiha looked out at the ajar door. "So this is what you have to go through? That man won't be wont be coming back soon, will he?"

Sakura's mother shook her head. "No, you scared him off good. He's a paranoid man so he'll think that you're here with me all the time."

Sasuke sighed. "If you say so... Then I'll go."

He was about to leave when Akai spoke up. "Sasuke, you can't let my daughter's death effect your life. I've seen what its been doing to you, and you need to snap out of it. You have good friends and family, and they all like to have you back to your old self. It wasn't your fault—you must understand." the woman was in tears, trying to get the young boy out of the funk he's in.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he turned to her. After a few moments of silence, the boy had a small grin on his face. "I'll try. I have a lot of work to get done before the finals."

"I wish you the best of luck then, Sasuke." Akai said with a smile.

Meanwhile in the hospital Kimimaro was highly annoyed at the man who is supposed to watch over him. "C'mon Kimimaro-kun! Pick those feet up, show off your flames of youth by walking straight!" Might Guy shouted at him. Guy was the Jonin in charge of protecting Kimimaro from the sound ninjas until the chunin exams are over, this has caused the young Kaguya to resist the urge to kill the man ever since. The sickly teen watched in amusement as the doctors shushed the green clad jonin. Guy sheepishly nodded. They were at the hospital to get more drugs for Kimimaro's disease, the teen never realized the pills he took from Kabuto was making it worse until recently. He had took his bottle of pills to the doctors, and they told him it was accelerating the disease; it made Kimimaro angry at the glasses wearing man.

A nurse arrived later with Kimimaro's new bottle of medicine. "Here you go, sir. This should help slow down the disease, I'm sorry that's all that we can do for now." She said with a bow. Kimimaro nodded and watched her go.

"Yosh! Kimimaro-kun, where to?" Guy asked.

The young Kaguya sighed. "I'm going back to my hospital room." He said in his usual monotone.

Kimimaro decided to go visit Tenten since she was still here. Neji had done a number on her in the preliminary exams, and Kimimaro felt responsible somehow. _'I told her to keep fighting when she clearly didn't want to.' _He looked to see a nurse walking by. "Excuse me, but where is Tenten's room?"

The nurse nodded. "Room 203. Someone else is there, but you can still go."

Kimimaro raised an eyebrow, who else would be there? _'Maybe that Lee person is there... Who knows?' _With a shrug, Kimimaro went to find her room. When he did, he noticed there _was _someone else there. Kimimaro opened the door and went in. "Neji?"

Neji turned around from watching Tenten's slumber. Neji looked disheveled and sleep deprived, the Hyuga genius glared at the Kaguya and stood up. "And what might you be doing here? If I recall you have no reason to be here, as you are not her teammate or family."

Kimimaro looked at Neji with hardened eyes. "I'm here because I have something to say to her, but it seems she's not awake. So I'm going to wait here. And why are you, the one who did this to her, care anyway?" Neji scoffed and left without a word. Kimimaro sighed and approached Tenten's sleeping form, her face was still scarred from her fight with the Hyuga, and it may not heal properly. Not that it mattered to him.

Tenten's eyes fluttered opened moments later. "Mmh... Kimimaro? What are you doing here?" Seeing him up close, he looked kind of cute in his own sickly way.

The Kaguya paused at her gaze. "...I wanted to apologize from what I said at the exams. I shouldn't have intervened." What Kimimaro did that day still confused him, why did he encourage her to fight?

The brown haired girl shook her head. "No, it's fine. Actually, I'm glad you did. At least Neji will know I'm not as weak as he might think." She finished with a smile.

Her door opened to reveal Haku their with a wheelchair. She saw Naruto's relative with her and smiled. "Hello Kimimaro. I'm sorry, but you have to leave the room for now. It shouldn't take long." The lanky sound ninja raised an eyebrow in confusion, but Tenten's blush addressed his confusion. He nodded and left.

Sasuke was told that Haku was working at the hospital, so he decided to go visit her. The nurse said she was at room 203, so Sasuke hurried along; that's when he noticed someone outside the door.

"Kimimaro, right? What are you doing here?" The Uchiha asked.

The Kaguya shrugged. "Came to see Tenten. Haku and her are in there doing some female related thing or something." Sasuke 'ah-ed' and leaned against the wall.

Haku and Tenten came out sometime later, with the bun haired girl in the wheelchair. Haku saw Sasuke and her eyes widened. "Sasuke-kun? What are you doing here? Aren't you helping Akai for the day?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I'm done, but listen. I wanted to apologize to you, and to everyone else, for how I've been acting. I shunned and ignored you when you were just trying to help. Please, forgive me..."

Haku smiled sweetly at him. "It's ok, Sasuke-kun. I know what it's like to have someone like that die. But next time, let us help you!" She said pointing at him.

"Yeah... right... sorry." He replied, scratching his head in embarrassment. Tenten giggled at Sasuke's expense.

00000000000

Naruto and Jiraiya have been practicing his taijutsu all morning. The two decided to take break by visiting the hot springs; Jiraiya leaned back and took a sip from his shot glass. "Now that we've gotten your taijutsu out of the way, what say we work on your summoning abilities?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Summoning? How do you do that?"

Jiraiya laughed. "We'll get to that later, brat. Right now let's relax while I do research..." Jiraiya took the time to look into the pre-installed peep hole. He giggled perversely.

Naruto sighed. "Jeez, this is gonna take a while..."

00000000000

**A/N: Poor Naruto! Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter. It was pretty slow paced and filler-esque but don't worry about it! I promise the next chapter will be more exciting, it's just that I haven't written in a while so I'm a bit rusty...**

**Anyhoo, see you all next time!**

**-Dzero9, out.**


	31. One Month of Toad

**A/N: What's up? Back once more for some more Son of the Kyuubi! Did you guys know? Part one of Son of the Kyuubi is almost over? Yeah, I never mentioned I was ending this story at the Chunin Exams—I'm sorry! But don't worry, I'm ending this with a bang—so don't get mad. Part 2 Is the Tsunade arc onward, everything and anything could happen now, so let's get to it!**

**If I owned Naruto, I wouldn't make Sasuke a dickless pansy.**

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* * *

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Naruto and Jiraiya made their way to secluded spot near a cliff, the Toad Sage bit his thumb and made some hand seals, **"Summoning Jutsu!" **He slapped his hand on the ground and in a poof of smoke, a giant toad appeared with a Contract Scroll. Jiraiya took the scroll, "Here you go kid, the Contract Scroll! With this you'll be able to summon toads like your real Father! All you have to do is sign your name in blood and its an okay from there."

The blond boy raised an eyebrow and nodded. He bit his thumb and signed his name on the scroll, he took the time to notice the name right before him was none other than Minato Namikaze—the Jinchuriki grinned, _'That's my father alright'. _When Naruto finished, he looked up at his godfather. "So what happens, next?"

The Pervy Sage nodded. "Now, make these hand seals." Jiraiya performed the hand seals slowly so Naruto could get them, fortunately Naruto was a fast learner and got them.

"Ok here goes: **Summoning Jutsu!" **The genin slapped his palm on the ground, and in a poof of smoke, a toad appeared. The toad was small and orange with a blue vest.

Gamakichi looked around and saw Jiraiya, "Eh? Jiraiya how come you summoned me? Gonna give me a snack?"

The Sanin shook his head. "I wasn't the one who summoned you, it was him." Jiraiya said while pointing at Naruto.

The boy grinned sheepishly as Gamakichi turned around. "So you're our newest summoner? Name's Gamakichi—son of the Boss Toad, Gamabunta. Nice to meet you, kid!" Before the blond could say anything, Gamakichi poofed into smoke.

Jiraiya clapped his hands in approval. "Nice job, Naruto! I would have never guessed you'd summon Gamakichi on your first try! You really do have your father's talents."

Naruto pointed his thumb at himself. "Well whaddya expect? I _am _also the Son of the Kyuubi!"

"Don't let it get to your head, brat!" Jiraiya retorted. Naruto puffed his lower lip at him and pouted while the Toad Senin groaned. "You're a pain, kid. Now then, summon up some more toads." Naruto complied and got to work. Jiraiya was astounded that the boy had so much potential, he manage to summon up bigger and more powerful toads, but still...

Later that day, Naruto dropped to ground, exhausted. "Whew... That was fun meeting everyone!" He said between breaths. The young teen jumped to his feet. "Now then, lets-"

"Naruto, wait." The boy looked over to the Pervy Sage to see him having an unreadable expression on his face. "You see that cliff over there? C'mon let's walk up to it." Naruto nodded with his eyes closed as he walked over to the cliff with his Godfather.

Naruto looked down the cliff. "Wow! Such a deep ravine!" He said with wonder. "So Pervy Sage, what are we—WAAH!!" Naruto didn't have time to react as Jiraiya pushed him of the cliff, "Damn you Pervy Sageeee!!!!" The boy shouted from within the ravine, he tried to use his chakra to stick to the pointed walls, but alas—it didn't work as the walls were too slick. _'Aaah... I'm gonna die if I don't do something!' _At that thought Naruto pulled himself inside his mind.

(Naruto's Mind scape)

The blond boy rushed up to the big cage where his dad was, the Kyuubi looked down at him in his fox form. **"Naruto? What's the matter?"**

The boy huffed. "I need chakra to summon up a toad! Hurry, or I'm gonna get skewered!" Ever since the incident in the Forest of Death, Yokoumaru sealed off Naruto's access to his chakra. It seems like whenever he tapped into it, he would gain parts of a bone mask on his face and he would start to lose his reason.

The Kyuubi complied. **"Here you go, stay in control!"**

"Thanks, dad!" Naruto said with a relieved smile as he vanished.

Yokoumaru looked off to a hidden corridor and gave a low threatening snarl. **"I don't know what you are, but try and take over my son you'll pay for it dearly."**

(Back in Reality)

Naruto could feel the Kyuubi's chakra course through his veins, the boy bit his thumb. "Hope this works, **"Summoning Jutsu!" **In a massive poof of smoke, Naruto's descension ceased as he landed on a faded blue jacket. The young Kaguya looked to see he summoned a really big toad, much bigger than the one he summoned before. This one had a pipe in his mouth and a scar across his left eye, Naruto looked down at him in awe.

Gamabunta looked up at the kid. "So you must be this Naruto brat my sons were talking about. Hang on!" Gamabunta leaped high up in the air, effectively saving Naruto from his untimely demise. The big boss toad landed right in front of Jiraiya, the Pervy Sage looked up impressed.

Naruto looked down at him and pointed a finger. "You bastard! Why did you push me off that cliff you psycho!"

Gamabunta look up at Naruto as if he grew an extra head. "What? Jiraiya was the reason you were down there?" The boy nodded his head with a frown.

Jiraiya waved his palms up in defense. "You gotta hear me out, I only did so he can summo-"

"JIRAIYA! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" Gamabunta roared. "I expect three pounds of sugary treats for Gamakichi by the end of this day as punishment! If not, then I'll be dealing with you personally!" The giant toad poofed out of existence, Naruto managed to catch himself from falling by using his chakra.

The blond container glared at the pervert. "You better get going. It's sunset already." He said with a devious smile. Jiraiya nodded and hurriedly searched for some candy.

00000000000

During Naruto's training, Sasuke met up with Itachi and Ayame. Itachi was practicing his taijutsu with a Shadow Clone while Ayame watched with a light blush on her face; Oh, and it totally had _nothing _to do with him being sweaty and shirtless.

Sasuke walked up to his brother and grinned. "Yo, Itachi-nii. I'm ready to start my training." He said.

Itachi dispelled his clone and looked over at him. "Hm? What about Akai?"

The young Uchiha shook his head. "She let me go early today... And I wanna say sorry for being so full of negative energy, I have no idea why Sakura's death is hitting me so hard."

The older Uchiha had many reasons why, but decided not to say. "That's alright Sasuke. Go ahead and get into a kenjutsu stance, let's start with your swordsmanship."

Itachi went to where his shirt and vest was and took out his new katana. Sasuke looked in awe at its appearance, the blade was translucent; as if something should go into it. "Where did you get that? I haven't seen that one before..."

The Jonin also took out a stick of strawberry pocky. "It's a fail-safe for Orochimaru's assault on the Leaf Village." He said in between bites.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "O-orochimaru?" Ayame was also surprised. The ramen girl knew about Orochimaru from various customers, from what she knew, Orochimaru was a Sanin turned traitor. So that means...

"...Is Orochimaru going to attack the Leaf?" Ayame choked out.

Itachi nodded grimly. "According to a source, Orochimaru will start his assault along with Suna during the finals of the chunin exams. We need all the time between then and now to prepare for this, that's why I've been ignoring you lately Ayame-chan. I'm sorry."

Ayame managed to smile at him despite the news. She knows he has a lot of love for Konoha and he'd do whatever it took to save this village, she couldn't be mad at him. Sasuke meanwhile took that info in, _'Maybe Orochimaru is what they were talking about when Itachi and Yokoumaru said 'great evil'_

The older Uchiha turned to his younger brother. "But first, we need to get you ready for Gaara. You ready?" He said as he activated his Sharingan.

Sasuke's eyes hardened at the mentioned of Gaara's name and activated his own Sharingan. "Yeah, I'm ready."

00000000000

Around the same time, Hinata was enjoying here afternoon off. She was wandering aimlessly when she felt her stomach grumble in hunger, the Hyuga heiress blush lightly and searched for a place to eat--fortunately there was a ramen stand nearby. Hinata went into Ichiraku's and sat down.

Teuchi greeted his latest customer with a smile. "Good afternoon Hyuga-san! What will it be?"

"I'll have vegetable ramen, please." Hinata said with a smile. The Hyuga heiress noticed a photo on the table behind the counter, it was of Teuchi and a younger Ayame; Hinata's eyes widened.

Ichiraku's chef walked out later with a fresh bowl. "Here you go ma'am!"

As Hinata ate, she looked at the picture again. "So you're Ayame-chan's father?"

Teuchi stopped what he was doing and nodded his head. "Yeah, I am? How is she? Is she doing alright?" After Teuchi fired the ramen girl, she along with Naruto, Sasuke, Itachi, and Yokoumaru never showed back up again. The girl's father felt bad about it, because that's when she stopped speaking to him, too.

Hinata furrowed her eyebrows, knowing what had happened between them. "She's doing fine, Itachi-san takes good care of her along with Naruto-kun and the rest."

Teuchi let out a sigh of relief. "That's good..."

The Hyuga girl narrowed her eyes. "Why did you do that to her? You shattered her dream of working at this place! She told me because of the villagers disapproval of her being Itachi-san's girlfriend, Ichiraku got threats and was vandalized. And what did you do? Instead of addressing the problem you fired your own daughter and threw away her love of you!"

Teuchi was stunned, he always doubted his decision was a wise one, but he never knew it hurt Ayame that much to be fired from here. The middle aged man felt sick knowing his daughter's dream was dead because of him.

Hinata wasn't done. "Ayame-chan loved it here, it was her dream job. And when she became Itachi's girlfriend, things only got better. But then you get rid of her to please the villagers and save your business... How shameful can a father be?"

Teuchi was silent for a moment. "B-but, what choice did I have?" he said meekly.

The young genin rose from her seat and put her money on the table, she was about to leave when she turned to him. "You should have made the right decision than the proper one." And with that the Hyuga Heiress left, trying to fix up her mood and leaving the ramen chef time to think.

Through out the course of that month, the chunin hopeful trained diligently for the finals, Naruto learned how to do combinations with his summoned toads, as well as a crash course into sealing. Sasuke learned how to use the Mangekyou Sharingan, and was also taught **Chidori **by Kakashi. Hinata perfected a jutsu to counter the Sixty Four Palms, called **Shugo Hakke: Sixty-Four Palms. **Kimimaro entertained Tenten (whom was still recovering her broken arms) by practicing his dances, the bun-haired girl poked fun at how the lanky sound ninja looked like a ballroom dancer with those moves, which made Kimimaro feel dejected for some reason. Jiraiya and Sarutobi both had secretly starting training to prepare for Orochimaru's attack, meanwhile Deidara snuck out of the ANBU's watch to train himself.

00000000000

(Three days before the finals)

Naruto was searching Konoha with a box of something for Hinata. Pervy Sage had dismissed him early that day so he could go about the town. Naruto found the lavender eyed girl sitting nearby on a bench. "Heeey! Hina-chan!"

The girl's cheeks became rosy as Naruto approached. "Hello, Naruto-kun." Hinata greeted. "What's in that box?"

Naruto chuckled. "Something special for you—here!" He handed her the box and the girl opened it up. Hinata's eyes widened at the contents.

Then, some drool started to form at the corner of her mouth "C-cinnamon rolls!?" It was a big box of thirty or so, when Naruto found out she had a weakness for cinnamon rolls, and the fact that she can down those things like he could down ramen, he went to buy her some. To be honest, Naruto did this to see how much she'd appreciate it. Hinata hugged the blond boy tightly. "Oh Naruto-kun, thank you!"

Naruto blushed a little as he felt Hinata's assets squeeze against the combined fabrics of her shirt and his kimono. _'Have they gotten bigger over the month?' _He wondered. As Hinata devoured the cinnamon treats, the blue eyed boy noticed that they _have _grown bigger, and also her midnight blue hair has gotten longer, she really looked prettier than before.

Hinata noticed his gaze and blushed hotly. "S-sorry... this is so embarrassing to see you watch me eat like this..."

Naruto shook his head to snap out of his stupor. "N-no! That's fine, really! You should see the way I ramen, Hina-chan." Hinata giggled at Naruto's comment. Their eating habits when it comes to their favorite foods are less to be desired. Naruto got up from his seat and stretched. "Hey Hina-chan, wanna go up top the Hokage Monument? The view is fantastic!"

The lavender eyed girl nodded happily after finishing the last of her cinnamon rolls. "Okay, I'd love to go."

(On the Fourth's Head)

Hinata looked off in the distance. "Wow! The view is breath taking!" You could see the whole village from where they were, especially on the Fourth's Head on the monument.

Naruto grinned. "I always come here to think. When there are things that bother or worry me, I always come up here to look at the view."

The bluenette looked at him curiously. "Oh, what's wrong? Something bothering you?"

Naruto motioned for her to sit down. "Yeah, there is." He sat with his knees close to his chest and his arms wrapped around them

Hinata sat down close to him. "Well, what is it?"

The blond boy sighed. "It's you. I'm worried about you. You're fighting Neji in three days, and that guy is..."

The bluenette blushed when he said that he was worried about her, Hinata put a hand on his shoulder. "Naruto-kun, I know Neji is a formidable opponent, but I wont back down. I'll fight him with everything I have."

Naruto looked over at her. "But what if everything isn't enough? What if he hurts you like he did to Tenten?" Naruto put his head down. "I... Don't want you to get hurt like that, Hina-chan...."

Hinata put a hand on her heart. Naruto wasn't just worried, but he was _scared _for her. The Hyuga heiress boldly lifted Naruto's head up to her, she smiled sweetly at him. "Naruto-kun, your so sweet sometimes. You don't have to be afraid, I wont let Neji beat me, I want to show him something that may open his eyes to the light, but I need to win. That's why I've been training so hard, Naruto-kun. I'll be alright—just have some confidence in me."

Naruto felt his mood lift right there and smiled widely. _Hina-chan, you always know how to cheer me up, _"I believe in you, Hinata." He said.

"Naruto..." The girl whispered. Their faces were just inches apart, the two slowly brought their lips together, but before they could touch; the two heard the sound of perverted giggling.

Naruto stood up, alert. "What was..." He turned to see Jiraiya hiding behind a rock, scribbling notes into his notepad. "Pervy Sage? What are you doing here?"

The Toad Senin rose from his hiding spot. "Getting material for my next new book! I'll think I'll call it 'The Princess and the Young Sage'."

Hinata was blushing hotly while Naruto drew a bone sword. "Gimme that notepad! I'm gonna slice it to pieces!!" Jiraiya yelped and ran from Naruto's wrath, Hinata laughed as she watched the love of her life chase down the white haired man.

(The eve of the finals)

Sarutobi took a smoke from his pipe behind his desk in the Hokage's office. He had just finished reading Deidara's report on the Akatsuki—a group of S-class ninja with unclear motives.

Sarutobi leaned back on his chair and pinched his nose. "This is very detailed and shows that Akatsuki has a clear goal: Capture the nine Biju"

Deidara smiled coyly. "Yup, so what are you going to do, un? Let's not forget I have a detailed description on each active member and their strengths and weaknesses.... un."

Hiruzen nodded. "After this whole Orochimaru fiasco blows over, we'll start training teams to combat Akatsuki. Also, I'll keep this with me." He said, holding the reports.

Deidara shrugged. "Sure thing, my man. But, when will I get to see my family again, un?"

Sarutobi smirked. "After the exams my clay-wielding spy."

00000000000

(The day of the exams)

The genin all lined up in front of Genma Shiranui in the Chunin Exams Stadium, the seats were packed with civilians, ninja, and Daimayo's alike. Naruto gave Hinata's hand a squeeze as the match ups were announced.

"...Okay, will only Hinata Hyuga and Neji Hyuga stay behind as everyone else take their seats?" Genma ordered.

The genin nodded and began to leave, Naruto whispered in Hinata's ear. "Hina-chan, you're very important to me, I believe in you." The lavender eyed girl blushed as the her love interest left.

Neji scowled the girl's blush. It was disgusting to him and unbecoming of a Hyuga. _'I'll just have to fix that, destiny mandates me to do so.'_

Naruto and Sasuke found their seats next too Itachi, Ayame, and Haku. "Hey you guys." Sasuke said, the group made room for the two to sit down.

The blond looked over the railing pensively. He was still worried for her. What Naruto was really afraid of, is the fear that she will end up dead like Sakura. _'I can't stop shaking...'_

Genma looked between the two genin. "Alright, Sento Kaishi!"

00000000000

**A/N: Awww... Naruto's so worried about Hinata, ain't that adorable? Anyhoo, the finals start. Will Hinata end up dead like Sakura, or will she beat Neji let him see the light; or will Neji get to close and get scorched? What about that thing Kyuubi was talking to? Who knows? I know? See you next time!**

**-Dzero9. Out.**


	32. Versus Neji

**A/N: Back by popular demand is more Son of the Kyuubi! It's the fated Neji vs Hinata match, will she end up losing or struggle through victory! Read to find out!**

**If I owned Naruto, Minato would still be alive.**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Yokoumaru walked up to the stands in the Chunin Finals arena looking for a place to sit, he managed to find one next to a certain Kurenai Yuhi. The demon fox got her attention with a fangy grin as he approached. "Hey, Kurenai. Mind if I sit?"

The Genjutsu mistress' cheeks became rosy. "Uh, sure. Go ahead." Yokoumaru nodded and sat down. Kurenai felt her body heating up sitting next to him, she felt bad that she was crushing on the demon fox like a horny school girl.

"So it's Hinata versus Neji. How do you think your student is going to do?" Yokoumaru suddenly asked.

The black-haired woman snapped out of her thoughts at his voice. "Hm, I wouldn't know. I haven seen her all month. Her father wanted to train her personally."

The red haired fox nodded. "I see, Hiashi didn't make it easy for you to say no then, I presume?" Kurenai nodded stiffly. Yokoumaru raised an eyebrow. "Hey, you all right? You look uncomfortable."

The Genjutsu mistress shook her head. "N-no, I'm fine. Look—the match is starting."

(At the stadium floor)

Genma darted his eyes between the two Hyuga, he chewed on his senbon a bit. "All right, the rules are exactly the same—but except this time there's no killing."

Neji looked offended. "What? No killing? And what happened to change that?" Hinata looked at her cousin with disgust. She couldn't believe it—he thought about killing her!

Genma eyed the Hyuga. "What's it to you? Anyway, do your best, your representing your clans and also Konoha. Sento Kaishi!"

Hinata calmly slipped into a Jyuken stance as her cousin defiantly crossed his arms. "What is this? Are you still going to try? You _do _know destiny demands your defeat."

Neji smirked as the girl looked down, then, to his surprised, Hinata glared at him. "You _do _know that I don't care about what destiny demands; I won't let your fear tactics work on me." She said with an icy calm. Up in the stands, Hiashi couldn't hold down a proud smile.

The Hyuga prodigy narrowed his eyes. "Then I'll have to knock out that spine you've suddenly grown."

The teen slipped into a Jyuken stance and motioned Hinata to come to him, the girl obliged and attacked with a fierce volley of Jyuken strikes, Neji deflected and counterattacked the blows which eventually ended in a stalemate with the two of them jumping back. They stared each other down and charged once more.

(Play **On the Verge of Assault **from the Crisis Core: FFVII OST)

Neji jumped up and threw a volley of shuriken, which Hinata deflected using the **Kaiten, **the male Hyuga took the chance to land a palm strike to Hinata's chest, the girl manage to avoid any serious damage, and fired back—striking him on the shoulders. Neji backed up and activated his **Byakugan**

and charged once more, the two were once again locked in a power struggle of palm strikes, neither being able to land a solid hit on the other.

(Up in the stands)

"All right! Go Hina-chan! Kick his ass!" Naruto shouted from his standing position, when the match started, the boy couldn't sit anymore and was jumping around and cheering for his dear friend.

Sasuke crossed his arms and shook his head at his brother's antics. "Naruto, will you sit? Jeez man, you look like an idiot." The blond sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

Itachi looked intrigued by this match. "Well that is odd..."

Both boys and Ayame looked at him strangely. "Whaddya mean?" Naruto asked.

The weasel leaned back in his seat. "Hinata hasn't activated her **Byakugan **and yet she's matching Neji in almost everything."

Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened. "Seriously? But how—" The raven haired Uchiha asked.

Itachi looked up where Hiashi was at. The man was so absorbed in the match, and he was also... smiling? "It must've taken intensive training to pull that one off. All I can say is... Hinata's level of growth in the Jyuken is unprecedented."

Naruto felt his heart swell with happiness for Hinata when he heard of how much she's grown. "That's awesome!" He jumped up again and stood at the edge of the balcony. "Hinata! Win this!"

-Back in the Arena.-

the struggle has raged on and Neji's fury was getting higher, going for more vital areas, only to have Hinata strike them away, all while not using her **Byakugan. **This made Neji angry and sloppy. Hinata on the other hand is taking sweet joy of watching Neji rage over his shortcomings, she manage to land hits easier, and he took a lot of damage from them. Hinata tried to land a palm strike to Neji's head, but the teen wasn't having it; he grabbed her arm and struck her tenketsu's across her torso. "You won't forget this- **KAITEN!" **The branch prodigy brutally used one of the Hyuga's prized techniques on his cousin, sending her sliding on the ground, motionless. The crowd gasped.

Neji coolly walked up to Hinata and stood over her. "Don't you see? Taking pity on me by not using your **Byakugan **will only hasten your eventual loss."

The bluenette furiously arose and sent a vicious palm strike to Neji's chest, the boy was sent flying back, astounded. Hinata glared at him, **Byakugan **eyes blazing. "I'm sick and tired of you always trying to put people down, I'm not holding back anymore!"

The Hyuga prodigy spat out some blood and glared right back. "Fine, then I won't hold back either."

(Play **Cosmos **from the Dissidia OST)

Hinata charged and began her assault on Neji's tenketsu, but the prodigy wasn't going to let her off easy, he deflected most of them and struck back, hitting some of hers. The traded blows until Neji grew sick of this, "That's enough! **Hakke: Sixty-Four Palms!"**

"Not yet, **Hakke: Sixty-Four Palms!"**

"**2 Palms!"**

"**4 Palms"**

"**8 Palms!"**

"**16 Palms!"**

"**32 Palms!"**

"**64 Palms!"**

The two matched each strike with the exact same speed and deadly accuracy, but neither of the two managed to land a single hit—the force of the last strike sent the both skidding backwards.

(Up in the stands)

Hanabi was looking down at the fierce battle with anger in her young eyes. How did Hinata get so strong? Was she really holding back all this? It made the younger sister furious.

Hiashi noticed his youngest's expression. And sighed. "Hanabi, are you jealous?"

The brunette looked up at her father with hurt eyes. "It's not fair, father! Hinata is so strong now, and I'm so weak... I hate it!"

Hiashi shook his head. "Hanabi... You can't expect your older sister to be below you because our fellow clansmen think so, you should start paying attention to her growth and source of strength."

The little girl looked down at the fight confused. "Source of strength?"

The clan head eyed Naruto from where he was cheering Hinata on, it brought a small smile on his face as he remembered Minato.

"That Uzumaki boy... He is what drives her to fight harder."

Hanabi remembered her father talk about him before as someone who gave Hinata strength, but now that she saw him... "He loos like he's nothing special. Why is he the source of her strength?"

"Because, your sister is quite taken to him... In fact, dare I say, she may be in love with him." Hiashi replied a matter-of-factually

Hanabi looked at the boy with wide eyes. "What? He's not even a Hyuga! How could she love _him_!" She asked, looking up at her father for answers.

The man shook his head. "She's in control of her own life, I believe she has the right to choose who she falls in love with, even if it's a non-Hyuga." Hiashi looked down at his youngest daughter and raised an eyebrow. "Somehow... I feel this has something to do with position of clan head... Doesn't it, Hanabi?"

His daughter looked down, embarrassed. "If I'm not strong enough to be clan head... I'll be sealed. I don't want that."

"And yet you thought Hinata was going to be sealed because you thought she was weak?"

Hanabi noticed the change of tone in her father's voice. "Everyone else thought she was weak because she didn't like to fight..." She replied meekly.

Hiashi furrowed his eyebrows. "You should take better observation, I expect better from you, Hanabi."

Hanabi looked down. "Yes, father."

(Down at the Stadium)

Neji was pissed, not only was the weakling keeping up with him, she was winning! The Genius looked at her and spat out blood. "You... where did you get such strength?"

Hinata, who was still in her Jyuken stance, glanced briefly at the stands, before closing her eyes. "Why do you care about a weakling's source of strength?"

Neji growled and charged, he went for a palm strike but Hinata easily caught his arm, she flipped him over the shoulder and struck him in the chest, Neji was sent skidding on the ground. When he didn't get up, Hinata turned her back to him, which gave the Hyuga a perfect opportunity to get up quickly and dash to her. "You're mine! **Hakke—"**

Hinata quickly faced him, **Shugo Hakke: Sixty-Four Palms!" **She blocked Neji's attacks a hazy blue barrier emerged around her body, protecting her like a dome as she began to counter his deflected attacks, at the sixty fourth strike, Neji was sent rocketing to the wall—Hinata eased her stance as Neji was knocked unconscious.

Gemna darted his eyes over at Neji, he was out cold. "The winner is... Hinata Hyuga!"

The crowed erupted in applause and praise, the Hyuga girl blushed and bowed politely, she noticed the medics rush over to Neji, she sighed as she began to leave.

As Hinata made her way to the stands, she thought about her almost kiss with Naruto a few days ago, she blushed heavily and wanted to talk to him about it. She made her way to the row where Naruto was, and smiled as she greeted them. "Hello everyone."

Naruto jumped out of seat and ran over to her and hugged her. "Good job, Hina-chan! You really showed that bastard who's boss!" He placed his face closer to her ear. "I'm glad your ok." He whispered tenderly, which caused the girl's face to heat up.

Sasuke walked over to the two as they broke apart. "That was a good fight, you surprised us with your improvement."

Hinata smiled. "I wasn't going to let you two be the strong ones all the time, right?" The trio laughed at that. Itachi smirked and crossed his arms. _'I can still make things right, I just hope Kurenai lets me.'_

"Hey, Naruto-kun, may I talk to you for a second?" Hinata suddenly said.

"Sure, what for?" The boy of her dreams, asked happily.

"Just follow me." Hinata led him a hallway that lead to the arena, this hallway looked especially unused. "This way we can be discreet."

"all right, we're here. What did you want to talk to me about?"

Hinata blushed heavily and shifted uncomfortably. "Remember three days ago when we almost... you know... k-kissed?"

Now it was Naruto's turn to blush heavily and shift uncomfortably. "Yeah... I remember..."

"Umm... Wh-what did you think of me, when we were a-about to?" Hinata couldn't control her stuttering as her old habit of pressing her index fingers together arose again.

Naruto avoided eye contact and looked at the ceiling as he nervously scratched the back of his head. "W-well, I don't know. My mind was all foggy when it happened."

The bluenette blushed harder at her next question. "Well... what do you think of me now? D-do you w-well... l-like me?"

Naruto couldn't keep his mouth shut. "Of course I do! I like you a lot, you're my best friend! ...But lately, I don't see you like that anymore—I can't explain it... You're kind, smart, your strong, your level headed, and you inhale your favorite food like I do!" He said with a laugh, Hinata was too busy taking it all in to reply. "...and not just just that, you're beautiful, too. I think your the most beautiful kunoichi in all of Konoha—and nothing can change my mind."

Hinata leaned her back against the wall and clenched her chest through the fabrics of her shirt. Her heart was running a million miles an hour, and it was driving her insane. "N-Naruto-kun... you..."

The blond got closer to her and put his hands on the wall, the gazed into each others eyes, Naruto staring into Hinata's pearl orbs as she stared into his cerulean ones. They brought their lips towards each other, they could practically touch the heat between them-

"Oi! Hina-chan!"

Kiba strode into the hallway, Hinata's father had approached him and asked where she was. When he didn't know he asked him to find her, so here he was. The dog boy noticed Hinata and Naruto standing apart, Naruto was apparently coughing, looking away, and Hinata was looking away as well.

"Uh, what were you two doing down here?" The Inuzuka asked.

"It's none of your business, Kiba." Hinata replied sharply as she faced him, her blush finally fading away.

"Hey what did I do?" The boy asked, Akamaru, who was n his jacket, started snickering at his partner's expense.

"Never mind, what do you want?" The bluenette asked, really upset at Kiba.

"Uh, your dad was looking for you, he wants to talk to you about your match I'm guessing."

Hinata's eyes widened. "Oh! I'd better get going, bye Naruto-kun!" The blond gave her a backhanded wave as she left.

Kiba 'hmmm'ed as he approached the blond, who was still facing the other way. "What the hell were you two doing?"

"Will Naruto Uzumaki and Kimimaro Kaguya report to the Stadium?"

Naruto looked up. "Huh? It's my turn already? Sorry, Kiba—I gotta get going as well."

The dog boy grunted. "Don't lose. Not until I kick your ass and win Hina-chan."

"Keep dreaming." The blond said as he left.

(In the infirmary)

Neji looked out of the window, watching the birds fly by, master-less and graceful. He sighed to himself, was he wrong? Was destiny something he can control and make his own? Was it not per-determined? That was when an ANBU walked in. "Excuse me, Neji. But there's someone of interest who wishes to speak to you... He wants to offer something..."

The Hyuga genius narrowed his eyes. "And who might that be?"

Kabuto smirked under his mask. "His name is... Orochimaru."

(In the Stadium)

Naruto and Kimimaro stared each other down, The lanky sound ninja spoke up. "I didn't think we'd fight so soon. I wonder what happened."

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know, but hey—this means I get to show you my strength much earlier!"

Kimimaro pulled out a bone sword. "Good. I want to see if your worthy of resurrecting our fallen clan."

Genma looked between the two of them. "Match 2: Naruto Uzumaki vs. Kimimaro Kaguya—Sento Kaishi!"

XXXXXXXXXX

**A/N: end of the Chapter! So now lets summarize, I suck at fight scenes, Kurenai still can't quite get our favorite Demon Fox to notice her the right way, Hanabi finally understands why her sister is so strong, and Naruto and Hinata almost kiss once more. Also, Neji is approached by Kabuto about Orochimaru, and it leads down to Naruto vs Kimi. What's going to happen? Who knows, I know! See you next time!**

**-Dzero9**


	33. Versus Kimimaro

**A/N: What's up? I got another chapter of Son of the Kyuubi for you guys, it's the Naruto vs Kimimaro fight! Also, I need a beta reader to spruce up my fight scenes, since I suck at them...**

**Anyhoo, let's begin!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto... don't kill me...**

**XXXXXXXXX**

In the stands, Sasuke impatiently tapped his foot as he resisted the urge to touch the Curse Seal on his neck, he was glad he didn't have to fight yet, since this thing has been driving him crazy. Orochimaru's 'Gift' kept him up at night because of that repeating dream that he's been having again, and because of it, Sasuke looked sleep deprived and a tad disheveled.

"Sasuke-kun?"

The Uchiha turned to see Haku look at him with a face of worry, her chocolate brown eyes showing concern, and a small bit of fear? Sasuke gave her a small smile, "Yo, you need something?"

The older girl looked down, then back at him. "Are you ok? You look paler than usual, and you have bags under your eyes. Have you been sleeping well?"

Sasuke looked looked away. "I'm fine. Never been better."

"You're lying"

"So?"

"Sasuke!" Haku warned. She's been concerned about Sasuke's mental state after the Forest of Death incident and Sakura's murder. She was upset he wont talk to people about how he feels inside, more importantly, her. Haku put a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I know you've been through a lot, as of late, but you have to let me in and let me know how you're feeling."

The borderline fourteen-year-old looked away again. "There's nothing to say... I don't want to talk about anything." He said softly.

Haku sighed, "Well if that's how it's going to be, I'm going to have to make you talk." She said cheerfully.

Sasuke smirked. "Good luck with that."

Itachi meanwhile, just eyed them both. He looked over at Ayame, who drifted off into his chest, and sighed.

(Down at the stadium)

Genma darted his eyes between both chunin hopefuls. "Alright, you two know the rules, right?" Naruto and Kimimaro nodded stiffly. "Ok, Sento Kaishi!"

Naruto smirked as Kimimaro drew a bone sword, it was the moment of truth. The crowd watch in curiosity as Naruto shrugged off his battle kimono, and the surprise and shock as he drew a bone sword of his own.

The older people in the crowd knew only one person who had this kekkei genkai, and she is just as much as a brat as Naruto:

Kushina Kaguya.

And they knew who Kushina was dating... And eventually married:

Minato Namikaze.

A look of horror crossed their faces as they put two and two together. Meanwhile, Naruto grinned at the sounds of collective gasps. "Hahaha, I like the sound of surprise and shock. Don't you Kimimaro?"

The lanky ninja shrugged. "I doesn't matter, so shall we dance now?"

Naruto lightly bounced on his feet. "Yeah, let's!"

(Play **J-E-N-O-V-A **from the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children OST)

Naruto and Kimimaro lunged forward at each other and clashed weapons, both of the expertly blocked each swipe and stab at their way, The backed off by jumping back. Kimimaro twirled his bone sword in front of him as a taunt, and Naruto fell for it.

The blond jumped in the air and Kimi did the same, and the clashed in midair, the two Kaguya jumped back on the stadium walls, and used chakra to stick. Naruto sucked his teeth as he tried to devise a plan, but Kimimaro was running towards him.

(Up in the stands)

"Wow, amazing! It looks more like a dance than a fight!" Hanabi said, completely awestruck by the deadly dance between the two blood relatives.

Hinata smiled sweetly at her sister. "Well, Naruto-kun always wanted to make his fights remember able and flashy. It's just his way of doing things." Hanabi looked up at her and nodded.

The girls' father looked down at the blond, who was now playing defensively. Hiashi overheard the gasps and smirked at the looks of horror on the villagers faces when they witnessed Naruto's kekkei genkai, it was about time Minato and Kushina started extracting their revenge on the villagers, in the form of their son, of course. "That boy reminds me too much of his mother. Her exams went just like this against her opponent, it was most annoying."

Hinata giggled at her father's remark. "It's in his blood, apparently. Naruto is Naruto." Hiashi nodded as Hanabi looked between the two.

(In the stadium)

Naruto's stamina allowed him to keep up with his older relative, while Kimi was starting to falter. Naruto managed to get a few good strikes in before they jumped back and both started lightly bouncing on one foot.

"Let's go, **Genji Dance!"**

The both charged forward and started slashing, all of their blows clashed as the both begun the next phase, Kimi and Naruto started spinning rapidly; the force caused them both to slide backwards as their attacks canceled out once more. Naruto stood up, slightly dizzy. "We're both near equals, it's getting us nowhere!" He finished with a laugh.

Kimimaro stood up, and gave a small smirk. "The how about we... change the playing field?" Naruto raised an eyebrow as the lanky ninja put his hands on the ground. "**Bracken Dance!"**

Naruto gasped as large bone spikes appeared out of the ground, as one was about to emerge from beneath his feet, the blond used a chakra powered jump to dodge safely, but Kimimaro was one step ahead of him, as he was already behind him in the blink of an eye, with a bone drill ready to strike. "It's over, **Clematis Dance: Flower!" **Naruto quickly spun around in surprise. The crowd watched them both go down in the dense forest of bones.

(In the stands)

"Ah! Naruto-kun! Hinata shouted as she leaned on the railing in anticipation. There was a loud crash as the two combatants landed in the dense forest; visibility is off now to the whole crowd. Hinata shook her head, '_I just need to have faith in Naruto-kun, I know he's all right...'_

(In the Stadium)

Kimimaro looked on with widened eyes as he struggled to get his arm free from Naruto's grip, it surprised him that the boy actually grabbed his arm during the attack, which sent the both to the ground. The blond smirked. "Now... I can return the favor!" Naruto formed a bone drill with with his free hand and stabbed Kimimaro with it, the white haired teen was sent hurdling towards the wall. Kimimaro gasped as he felt the sudden rush of pain from being slammed into the concrete wall, he coughed up blood as Naruto took out a bone sword. "don't tell me your going to quit!" Naruto shouted.

Kimimaro just glared at him. "All right... fine..." He slowly got off the wall as Naruto prepared to strike. "Since this will be the last time I fight you..." Naruto jumped into the air to bring down the final blow as black marking surrounded Kimimaro's body, he held his hands up to stop Naruto's slash. The blond's eyes winded at the block, and he focused in on Kimimaro, his complexion changed, and he has grown a tail, too. Naruto's relative looked up at him in his Curse Seal 2 form "...I might as well go all out."

"What the—" Naruto was thrown before he finished his sentence, he landed several yards away. The blond turned to look at Kimimaro, who has also grown horns and spikes on his back. "Kimimaro, what happened? How did you change like that?"

Kimimaro eyed the blond. "This is the power of the Curse Seal. This is the level 2 state. The form changes from person to person, this just happens to be mine." He said as he pulled out his spine to form a whip. "If you don't use that red chakra power of yours..." In a blink of an eye, the white haired ninja appeared in front of Naruto, and caught him with his whip, and tossed him into a bone spike. "...You'll lose."

Naruto coughed as he got up to think of a plan, but Kimimaro was already on the offensive, the blond couldn't do anything but defend as the older ninja rapidly attacked; Naruto couldn't keep up and was sent flying deeper into the dense bone forest, via a kick. The blond shakily got up as he entered his mindscape...

(The Kyuubi Cage)

Naruto quickly raced up to the Kyuubi cage, Yokoumaru was already there. "What's going on during your match? We just saw you go down, heard some stuff, and then I sensed some malevolent chakra..."

The blond shook his head. "Dad, I need some chakra! I won't be able to fight Kimimaro on my strength alone now that he's using the Curse Seal!"

Yokoumaru nodded as red chakra started to seep through the cage, and into Naruto... little did they know, something else decided to make their presence known.

"**It's my turn to have fun..."**

(Up in the stands)

Yokoumaru's eyes glowed red as he slumped over, Kurenai gasped as she saw him pass out. "Yokoumaru? What's wrong, Yokoumaru!" She called as she started shaking him, trying to get him to return to consciousness. The black haired kunoichi could still hear him breathing, so he wasn't in any danger.

(In the arena)

Naruto felt the rush of the red chakra as his eyes turned red with black slits in them, and the whisker marks and his fangs grew more pronounced, but then, something happened. The mask started to form on the left side of his face and the white of his left eye turned black and his red pupils turned gold. Kimimaro charged with a bone sword poised to strike, but faltered when he saw Naruto's appearance, that gave the blond enough time to block and send a shattering punch to the face.

Kimimaro looked up as he clenched his face. "Naruto?"

'Naruto' gave him a laugh that didn't belong to his voice. "**Naruto's not here at the moment, please leave a message after the beep...**" Kimimaro struggled to get up to defend, as 'Naruto' prepared for a lunge, **"BEEP!" **With astounding speed, the blond was already in front of his relative, 'Naruto' sent a powerful swipe that cut deep into Kimimaro's flesh, the boy kicked and struck like a wild animal, while laughing all the way.

The white haired ninja could barely keep up as this new person struck with such speed and ferocity, it was too much as he was sent skidding on the ground. The possessed Naruto stood over him with an insane smile. "**Now then...**" He started as he drew a bone sword. **"This will end it!" **He sent the sword down, and suddenly stopped as it was inches from Kimimaro's face. "**What the—"**

"What...?" The lanky sound ninja wondered, just then, 'Naruto' grabbed his mask, and started pulling.

'_Sorry, but I'm taking my body back!'_

"**Nooo! I was winning for you!" **He shouted, Kimimaro was confused at first, but then he figured it was Naruto fighting back.

_'Now, off we go!'_

Naruto roared as he tore the mask off his face, he fell to one knee as he gasped for air, the blond looked at his relative with his red Kyuubi-fied eyes. "Sorry about that, now where were we?"

(Up in the stands)

Yokoumaru snapped back into to consciousness, Kurenai was startled as he snapped back up. "Ugh, Naruto!"

Kurenai looked at him with surprise. "Yokoumaru, you're alright!"

The demon fox put a hand on his forehead. "What just happened?" He asked her.

"You fell unconscious, and I couldn't wake you up. I figured you were alright since were still breathing, but..."

Yokoumaru heard worry in her voice, the last thing he needed was someone to worry about his well being. "You don't have to worry, I'm fine now." He reassured her with a smile, his fellow Jonin blushed a bit and nodded.

(In the arena)

Naruto and Kimimaro have gone neck and neck once more, thanks to the boosts from their respective sources, the blond looked up at his relative from afar. "Well, I think it's time I finished this." He said

Kimimaro narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?" Naruto just smirked and put his hands on the ground. _'What is he doing? The _**_Bracken Dance_**_?'_

The blond smirked. "Behold! My latest technique! **Secret Uzumaki Technique: Great Bone Forest Emergence!" **Kimimaro's eyes widened as the ground started to shake, just then giant root-like bones appeared, and ensnared the ninja, they wrapped around him as a giant Willow tree grew up into the sky, carrying Kimi with it. The audience watched slack jawed as a giant white Willow tree emerged from the dense forest like arena.

(In the Kage's Box)

Sarutobi laughed heartily as he watched the Willow tree fully emerge. "Well, well, looks like Naruto took a page from the Shodai Hokage's book and made it his own."

The 'Kazekage' watched silently with anticipation. _'What will you do now, Naruto-kun? Kukuku...' _Hiruzen eyed the 'Kazekage' suspiciously.

(In the arena)

Naruto put walked up to the tree and put his hand on it, Kimimaro emerged from inside, still tightly bound by the willow tree. "So Kimimaro, wanna surrender?" The teen shook his head defiantly, Naruto sighed. "Well, how's this?" He put his hands together and the roots that were binding Kimimaro tightened, squeezing the life out of him. Kimimaro struggled as his strength was sucked out of him, he couldn't hold the Curse Seal form and reverted back, and the forest started to dissolve into fine particles. Everyone could now see Naruto at the base of the tree, the arena ravaged by combat and the previous **Bracken Dance. ** Kimimaro's head slumped down, and Naruto eased up the grip, and eventually canceled the jutsu; the giant Willow tree dissolved into fine white particles. Kimimaro gasped as he landed on one knee and drew a bone sword, he weakly charged at Naruto only to have him get caught as he fell over.

Naruto shook his head as he held Kimimaro in his arms. "Jeez, you don't know when to quit, do you?"

The lanky sound ninja just looked up into the sky. "It's not in my nature..." He said weakly, Kimimaro snapped up as he coughed up blood.

"Hey, Kimimaro, you're coughing up blood! I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?" Naruto asked, voice full of concern.

The sickly ninja glanced over his shoulder at him. "No... this is my disease acting up full swing... after I used... the Curse seal... ugh..." Kimimaro slumped over.

Genma, who was outside of the arena, raced over to the two. "The winner is Naruto Uzumaki!" He quickly said. A moment to soon, the medics arrive and carry Kimimaro on a stretcher.

Naruto watched him go with worry, "H-hey, what disease—" Just then an ANBU appeared in the blond's way. "What do you want? That's my relative!"

The ANBU shook his head. "Because of Kimimaro's ninja status, we have to put him in a disclosed location, sorry Naruto."

The blond sighed, it was then he heard the cheering of the crowd. Naruto looked up at them all with shock, he couldn't help but give a small smile and an embarrassed scratch on the back of his head. It was then he knew, that everything was going to be alright.

Naruto couldn't make it to the stands as he was ambushed by a Hinata styled glomp attack, the boy nearly stumbled over as Hinata squeezed him tightly. "Naruto-kun! You're alright! I'm so happy for you!" The blond just hugged her back as Hiashi and Hanabi appeared.

When he saw the two, Naruto started to panic, but the Hyuga clan head held up a hand dismissively. "That's quite alright Naruto, and I must say you surprised me. You truly have your parents blood."

Naruto nodded at the Hyuga Head with a smile. "Thanks, Hiashi-sama. It means a lot."

Hiashi turned to leave. "You should go now, since we have a half hour intermission because of your match." The still hugging teens nodded and went to find the Uchiha bros.

XXXXXXXX

**A/N: That marks the end of this chapter! I know Hiashi is OOC, but I wanted to show that he can be lax and cool as well as stern and powerful. Anyhoo What's up with Sasuke's recurring dream? Does it have something to do with the Curse Seal? And what was it that possessed Naruto, and why did Yokoumaru pass out when he did? All that answered and more in future installments of Son of the Kyuubi!**


	34. Intermission

**A/N: Hehehe... You guys know what 6/20/10 is? Either than Father's Day, today marks 2 years of Son of the Kyuubi! That's write, this fanfic has gone a long way since then, and myself as a writer! If you guys, the readers, were never there from the beginning—I would've lost confidence and never bothered. So thanks everyone for liking this story! And special thanks to those who were there since Chapter One! Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart! At the end of the chapter, there will be a Father's Day omake and a very important message, so stay tuned for that!**

**Now, let's get to business.**

**I don't own Naruto!**

**XXXXXXXX**

Naruto walked up to were the Uchiha were sitting at with Hinata in tow, the two talked lightly before witnessing the Uchiha getting up to leave. The blond waved at them. "Hey, you guys!" He called

Sasuke turned to him with a small smile. "Yo, great match out there. Shocked the hell out of everyone." Naruto grinned as the gave each other up-top-high-fives. "We're going about the town to get food. This stadium food sucks so we're about to get something that's edible—wanna go?" Naruto and Hinata nodded.

Itachi quickly checked his wallet before looking over at the teens. "So, shall we go?" He turned to Ayame and told them that they were going, she nodded to him as they left.

(On the streets)

Hana Inuzuka. A Chunin, Itachi's former teammate, and Kiba's older sister, sighed deeply as she walked down the road. She went to her room earlier to see if she had gotten a message from him, but no word. She really misses his letters ever since they've stopped a while back, his last letter said something about coming home soon, but he's not anywhere. She felt a rare chill trail down her spine as her mind wandered into the possibilities of him getting caught. The brunette didn't want to believe, but it was becoming more of possibility every day. _'You better be alive...' _She thought.

"Hana?"

The Inuzuka looked up to see none other than Itachi, together with Kiba's teammate and his students. "How have you been? It's been awhile since we last spoke." He said calmly.

The teen scratched the back of her head. "Yeah, it has. I swear we should get together more, for some drinks and stuff." She said with a laugh.

Itachi smirked. "I'll skip the drinks, I think you just want to fight me again, don't you?"

"Damn right I do! I'll beat you next time we fight!"

"Good luck."

"Er-hem." Sasuke cleared his throat bringing the older teens to his attention. "Itachi-nii, aren't you gonna introduce us?"

The older Uchiha nodded. "That's right... Hana, these are my students and brothers, Sasuke and Naruto." He said, pointing at the two respectively. "Sasuke, Naruto, this is Hana Inuzuka, my former teammate from my genin days." Hana waved a 'hello' to them. "And I'm pretty sure you know Hina-chan."

Hana smiled. "Yeah, I do. Good to see you Hinata, my brother isn't giving you any more trouble, is he?" She said with a dangerous glint in her eye.

Hinata sweat-dropped as she waved her hands dismissively. "N-no! Not at all, he's been kept in line thanks to Shino-kun." The older girl nodded in approval.

That's when a light bulb went off in Naruto's head. "Brother... Inuzuka... AH! Kiba's your younger brother!" He shouted with a dramatic point.

Hana ruffled the blond's hair. "Hahaha, your the infamous Naruto my brother complains about everyday. Sayin' you're in his way for hooking up with Hinata." She said with a wink. Hinata blushed lightly while Naruto laughed nervously. She turned to Sasuke with a smile. "Sasuke, I have to admit it, but you're kinda cute, you were twice as cute than Itachi back in the day, I bet you had twice the fangirls on you." Sasuke crossed his arms and looked away, muttering about how he's 'too old' to be called cute.

Itachi gave a small smile at the genin, then turned to the brunette. "Say, Hana, since you're hear and all, why won't you come with us to Yankiku Q to eat; I bet you're just as sick of the stadium food as we are."

Hana grinned playfully. "Sooo... Is that date, Itachi?"

"Yeeeah... a date..." The teen deadpanned. In the staduims, Ayame felt a sudden spike of jealousy.

The brunette laughed heartily. "I'm just joking, anyhow let's get going!" Her former teammate eyed her as they walked, her trance from earlier still on his mind.

(At the Hokage's office)

Sarutobi slumped in his chair as he took his hat off and sighed contently. Fortunately they would have an hour intermission, thanks to Naruto, which would give his ninja extra time to prepare for the invasion. He looked over at the window to see Jiraiya poking his body through. "Hey, sensei, there you are." The Toad Senin said as hopped through the window, he looked around the room. "Now where's..." Just then, a figure busted through a closed window, shattering glass everywhere. Jiraiya got on edge as Hiruzen pinched the bridge of his nose.

Yokoumaru barrel rolled next to Jiraiya and stood up casually. "Yo gramps! What did you call me for?" Jiraiya's eyes widened as Sarutobi sunk deeper into his chair. "What? Something on my teeth?"

"At least Jiraiya had the decency to open the window." Hiruzen muttered with a sigh. The Sanin could've sworn he saw question marks floating around the demon fox. The Sandaime straightened up his posture. "Anyway, let's get to business, I'm curious as to why Orochimaru hadn't attacked yet; your thoughts?"

Jiraiya crossed his arms. "I don't know. According to Kimimaro's information, the signal should've been set by now, and the Sound 4 should've trapped Orochimaru and you."

Sarutobi took a smoke from his pipe as he contemplated an explanation. He knew the lanky ninja wasn't lying about his information, but why hasn't it happened yet? Yokoumaru stepped forward. "I think I may know, Gaara hasn't gone yet. He's their secret weapon right? They must be waiting for Sasuke and Gaara's fight, so that way they can activate the signal under the intensity of the fight and put everyone to sleep."

Jiraiya looked over at the demon fox with a nod. "That's sounds about right, but I have a feeling Sasuke fits into this equation somehow."

The red head nodded. "Yeah, Orochimaru may use this to activate Sasuke's Curse Seal, and try to break his sanity." He replied with seriousness in his voice.

The Third gazed with intensity while Jiraiya's eyes widened. "Break his sanity? What's the point of that?"

"Sasuke's been fighting the dark temptations of the Curse Seal, and it has been taking a toll on him. He can't sleep well, and he looks like he's losing it. But that boy has been doing his best to hide it." Yokoumaru said.

"So, by breaking his sanity... He can openly control Sasuke and force him to give into the Curse Seal!" Jiraiya shouted. "This is bad, I should find Sasuke and get rid of that seal!"

"No! If you do that, you'll only hurt his pride. That's the last thing he needs right now. It will make Sasuke believe he doesn't have the power on his own to fight it. What he's been trying to do will go to waist... Sasuke has a plan, I believe."

Sarutobi looked on interested. "A plan?"

Yokoumaru nodded with a smile. "Yup, I think Sasuke's planning to control the Curse Seal, and make it his own."

The Third laughed. "I see, I believe he has the willpower to do it." Jiraiya nodded stiffly. "Moving on, when I fight Orochimaru, I'll be needing backup. So who's going to?" He finally said.

"Kakashi and Itachi, along with us two, will be backing you up. We're not letting Orochimaru getting away with his life this time around. We need the best help we can get." Jiraiya said.

Hiruzen nodded. "Alright then, you two had better go, and get to helping prepare the village for the attack. We must make sure casualties are a minimum. Dismissed." The ninja disappeared in a poof of smoke.

(At the Yankiku Q)

Naruto and Sasuke were at it again with their eating contest, Hinata and Hana were both cheering them along. Itachi crossed his arms and smirked as Sasuke once again went down in defeat, gurgling that he can't eat anymore. Naruto stood on the table and announced his victory to anyone who cared. "YEEAH! I'm undefeated! Yosh!" Hinata looked up at him and clapped as Hana patted Sasuke's back in condolences.

"All right, get down from there before you break the table." Itachi said with a smile. Naruto sheepishly got off the table while the girl next to him giggled at his dispense. The older Uchiha looked over at the group. "So Hana, how have things been?"

The brunette looked up at him. "You know, some ol' same ol'. Doin' mission, taking care of the dogs, the like. So how has a genin team been working out for you?" She asked with a smile.

Itachi looked down, Hana immediately noticed the happy air was waxing and waning as Naruto's expression darkened and Sasuke's expression changed to a mix of anger and sadness. "My first genin team... I lost a student in the Chunin exams."

The teen's eyes widened. "Oh my... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked..."

Hana looked down as Itachi gave her a lofty smile. "Don't worry too much about it, you didn't know."

The girl smiled sheepishly. "Um... may I ask how it happened?"

"She was killed during her match in the preliminaries." Sasuke suddenly said with his head down. His fists balled up as he remembered the gory scene. "...And I'll avenge her death."

Hana put to and to together. "So... she was your teammate. Sakura Haruno. I'm terribly sorry for your loss."

Itachi shook his head. "Stop that already, you have nothing to be sorry about. We our ways of dealing with it, so just stop apologizing already." The Inuzuka scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

As soon as Sasuke recovered, they left Yankiku Q, They started walking towards the stadium as they made light conversation. "Well this is where we part." Hana said with a sigh. "I'm going to catch up with my family, so I'll be going." She said as she waved to the group.

"Oh, Hana, wait a second." The teen raised an eyebrow at Itachi when he walked up to and whispered something in her ear. The brunette's eyes widened as she raced off to find her family. The kids looked up at him and the Uchiha shrugged.

(In the Stands)

The group found their seats and sat down, Hinata said that she was going back to her father so she went on ahead. They looked down to see Genma clear his throat. "Ok, now that the arena has been fixed, can Shino and Kankuro please report down to the stands?"

"Oi, I give up." Kankuro called from the stands.

Genma raised an eyebrow. "You give up? Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yeah, no way I'm gonna win."

The Jonin referee sighed. "Fine, The Winner by default is Shino Aburame!" The crowd booed at Kankuro's forfeit, Shino meanwhile felt highly annoyed by the fact that he got an empty win. Genma sighed. "Well, can Shikamaru Nara and Temari report down to the arena?"

Naruto stood up from his seat and walked over to where Shikamaru was. "Hey! You're match is up! You ready?"

The pineapple headed genin groaned. "I don't feel like it, I think I'll give up like Kankuro..."

The blond grinned sickeningly sweet. "I thought as much." And with that, he pushed the teen off the stands and into the arena. Temari saw that and grinned, good thing that Shikamaru wasn't forfeiting, because she actually wanted to fight.

Shika got up and pointed up at Naruto in the stands. "Naruto you troublesome blond! I'll get you for this!"

Naruto laughed. "Hurry up and get your match done! You know what's next? You're the appetizer!"

"I hate being an appetizer!"

"Too bad!"

Shikamaru turned to see Temari patiently tapping her finger on her fan, waiting for him to get over so that they can start the match. Shikamaru sighed, "How troublesome."]

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**Omake: Father's Day**

An eight year old Naruto was currently walking through the village, looking for a gift for his dad. Sasuke and Itachi followed behind him. "So... What are we doing, exactly?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto grinned. "We're looking for a gift for dad for Father's Day today! What else!" The boy went into one of the stores and the Uchiha boys followed.

Itachi had one question though. "What's Father's Day?"

Naruto's eyes widened. "You never heard of Father's Day?" Sasuke nodded as well. The blond shook his head. "Why haven't you? Don't the Uchiha celebrate Father's Day, too? The Hyuga do!"

Itachi crossed his arms. "The Uchiha don't celebrate much. We have Clan Day, and that's it."

Naruto beamed. "Well, Father's Day is the day were you appreciate your father. By telling him that you love him, giving him Father's Day Cards, a new set of shuriken, you name it!" The Uchiha boys nodded in understanding. But...

"Yokoumaru isn't our father. Our real father..." Itachi trailed off, not wanting to even think about his name.

The hyper-active blond shook his head. "Uh-uh! Yokoumaru is just as much as a dad to me as he is to you two! So we're going to get him a gift when he gets back from his mission!" The Uchiha boys' eyes widened.

Sasuke looked down. "Really? So, he thinks of us like his sons?"

"Of course! Why else would he? He's our dad!" Sasuke felt the sting of tears as he smiled, Itachi couldn't help but smile, too. "Alright! Let's find him a gift!"

Later that day, Yokoumaru came home from his mission, tired. He yawned loudly as he searched for his keys. He opened the door to notice it was dark, the demon fox turned on the lights, and as he did, Naruto and the Uchiha boys appeared out of their hiding spots. "Happy Father's Day!" They all shouted.

"Father's Day..." Yokoumaru trailed off. He remembered his first Father's day with Naruto, it made his day.

Naruto grinned as the trio brought up three separate gifts with cards attached. "We were stuck between three awesome gifts, so we decided to buy all three of them!"

Yokoumaru chuckled as he opened up Naruto's first. "Well whaddya know! I knew Shuriken Set! I really needed one of these."

"Courtesy of the future Hokage!"

The demon fox tucked Naruto's card away as he opened Sasuke's gift. "New Ninja Sandals? Thanks a lot, Sasuke!"

"Well, your old ones look pretty worn out, so I bought you some new ones."

Finally, Itachi's gift. "Er... Pajamas?" Yokoumaru took the Pajamas out of the box and looked at them, they were black with an orange spiral on the back of the top. The demon fox also noticed some chibi fox slippers, too. "Ehehehe... How.. adorable."

"Yep, those slippers were especially difficult to find. It took us all day."

Yokoumaru took both Uchiha's cards and tucked them away. He wrapped all three of them in a hug. "Thanks you guys, I'll take good care of my presents, count on it!" The boys all smiled up at the man, who took all three of them (Naruto doesn't know Yokoumaru isn't his blood father) in, when they had nowhere else to turn to.

"Happy Father's Day."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**A/N: Happy Fathers Day! Honor thy Father! Yeah! Anyway, I have something serious to tell you all about.**

**I while ago I got a 'review' from a certain person by the pen name of 'Elizabeth Fae', as I read it, I realized something: One, she wanted me to respond, two, she wanted me to respond with anger. People like her feed off angry responses to their reviews, it gives them some kind of sick high. She was question some of the characters and such, and I answered all of her concerns. She fires back with more questions, and I realize I'm falling into a trap, so I put an end to it. It seemed like an attempt to crush my confidence, so I quickly put an end to it, telling her I'd let everyone who reads this chapter know about people like her. Now, here's my message to you all:**

**Don't fall into it!**

**Don't respond to the criticizing reviews with hate and anger! In fact, don't answer at all if your too angry to respond with a clear mind. Just ignore it and move along! If they pile up, report abuse—that's why it's there! You guys have to, have to, have to not feed them what they want! We can't let people like Elizabeth Fae get everything they want! I want you all to spread the word, they are crushing the confidences of new writers, because when a new writer gets the review I've gotten, their confidence in themselves go out the window. So please, let everyone you can know about this!**

**...Whew... sorry to break the fun mood, but I had to let that out. This is Dzero9, signing off**

**-Dzero9**


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